Birds of the Zarafschan Basin. 459 



<$ . 100 miles north of Samarkand. 3 Jan., 1908. No. 

 2G2. 



A rare winter visitor to Zarafschan. 



83. TURDUS ATRIGULARIS. 



Tardus atrigularis Seebohm, Cat. B. v. p. 267. 



S. Samarkand. 6 Feb., 1908. No. 272. 



<? • „ 7 Oct., 1907. No. 54. 



<?. „ 25 Oct., 1907. No. 121. 



cJ. „ 11 Oct., 1907. No. 64. 



9 . „ 2 Feb., 1908. No. 271. 



This Thrush arrives in the Zarafschan Valley in immense 

 numbers during the month of October. It is fairly common 

 all the winter in the cultivated areas, but by the end of 

 February the birds have left on their northern migration. 

 Although many winter in the neighbourhood of Samarkand, 

 the majority pass further southwards. The strongest 

 migration across the valley takes place during the middle of 

 October, southwards ; and during the middle of March, 

 northwards. 



84. TURDUS MERULA. 



Merula merula Seebohm, Cat. B. v. p. 235. 



<$ . Samarkand. 1G Nov., 1907. No. 184. 



c?. „ 22, 26 Dec, 1907. Nos. 252, 251, 



The Blackbird is rare in the cultivated districts and I 

 only saw it in winter. Severtzoff mentions it as breeding in 

 the northern part of Turkestan, and these are probably the 

 birds that winter in the Zarafschan Valley. The wing- 

 measurements are remarkably long, namely, 5-38, 5*25, and 

 5-20 inches. 



85. Accentor atrigularis. 



Accentor atrigularis Sharpe, Cat. B. vii. p. 656. 



$ . Samarkand. 18 Jan., 6 Feb., 1908. Nos. 266, 273. 



Sex doubtful. Samarkand. 18 Jan., 1908. No. 267. 



I only once came across this Accentor, during a very hard 

 spell of snowy weather in January. The birds were feeding 

 on the ground in a poplar grove, when I shot them. 



