On Palaarctic Birds' Eggs. 445 



XXXII. — On some rare or unfigured Palaarctic Birds' Eggs. 

 By H. E. Dresser. 



(Plate IX.) 



Having undertaken to write some papers on Birds* eggs for 

 'The Ibis/ I feel that I cannot do better than follow in the 

 footsteps of Professor Newton, who for some years past has 

 contributed articles to the 'Proceedings' of the Zoological 

 Society on " New or Rare Birds' Eggs/' the last of which 

 appeared in 1897 (P. Z. S. 1897, p. 890, pi. li.) ; but I pro- 

 pose to confine myself exclusively to the eggs of Palaearctic 

 species, and especially to such as have not yet been figured, 

 or have been inadequately delineated. I will commence with 

 the Thrushes, of several of which the breeding-habits and eggs 

 have only been described at a comparatively recent date. 



TuRDUs DUBius Bcchst. (jT. fuscatus Pall.). Dusky 

 Thrush. (PI. IX. figs. 1-4.) 



The first notice that I can find respecting the nidification 

 of the present species appears to be that of Dr. Dybowski, 

 who states (J. f. O. 1872, p. 437) that it "nests on the 

 Angara in the vicinity of Ussola/' but he does not appear to 

 have obtained its eggs. The late Mr. Seebohm, when he 

 visited the Yenesei in 1877, found a nest of this Thrush, but 

 it contained young birds ; and Mr. H. L. Popham appears to 

 have been the first to procure authenticated eggs, when in 

 1875 he took several nests on the Yenesei Hiver, shooting 

 the parent birds to ensure identification. Again in 1897 he 

 took five nests at Doodinka (lat. G9^° N.). These, he 

 writes (Ibis, 1898, p. 493), '' were generally placed in small 

 isolated trees, and rarely on the ground, though none were 

 more than two feet from it." The nest he describes as 

 being exactly like that of a Fieldfare, with a lining of mud, 

 and a final bedding of dry grass. The eggs vary from the 

 ordinary Blackbird type to that of the Fieldfare, the size 

 being about the same as in T. atrigularis. 



TuRDus oBscuRUs Gmel. Pale Thrush. (PI. IX. figs. 5-8.) 



The first authentic description of the nesting-habits, nest 



and eggs of this Thrush appears to be that of Dr. Dybowski 



