MERULA. 123 



d*. Under wing - coverts 

 and axillaries uniformly 



chestnut-brown M. unicolor , p. 132. 



b r \ Sides of breast and abdomen 



orange-ferruginous M . protomomeltena, 



b 5 . Under wing-coverts and axil- [p. 133. 



laries slaty grey. 

 c 6 . Breast and sides of abdomen 



chestnut-brown. 

 c 7 . Wing 4*8 ; second primary 



longer than fifth M. obscura, p. 134. 



d 7 . Wing 5'4 ; second primary 



shorter than fifth M . subobscura, p. 135. 



d 6 . Breast and sides of abdomen 



slaty grey* M.feee, p. 135. 



666. Merula maxima. The Central-Asian Blackbird. 



Merula vulgaris ?, Jerdon, Ibis, 1872, p. 137. 

 Merula vulgaris, Ray, Scully, S. F. iv, p. 139. 

 Merula vulgaris, Leach, Hume, Cat. no. 359 bis. 

 Merula maxima, Seebohm. Cat. B. M. v, p. 405 (1881) ; St. John, Ibis, 

 1889, p. 161. 



Coloration. Male. Entirely black throughout. 



Female. Upper plumage dark slaty brown with an olive tinge ; 

 tail black; wings dark brown, all the feathers edged with oliva- 

 ceous ; lores dark brown, with a whitish line over them ; sides of 

 the head ashy brown, the lower portion of the ear-coverts with white 

 shafts ; lower plumage slaty grey, the chin, throat, and breast 

 streaked with blackish ; axillaries and under wing-coverts uniform 

 slaty brown. 



A young bird procured by Jerdon in Kashmir is black ; but the 

 abdomen, vent, thighs, under tail-coverts, and under wing-coverts 

 are barred with buff, and the feathers of the rump and upper tail- 

 coverts are tipped with the same. 



The male has the bill yellow, tip of upper mandible blackish ; 

 legs and feet dark brown ; claws black (Scully}. 



The female has the bill brownish black ; legs and feet blackish 

 brown ; claws black (Scully}. 



Length about 11; tail 4-8 to 5'15 ; wing 5-4 to 5-9 ; tarsus 1-45 ; 

 bill from gape 1*2. Scully gives the length of the tail of a female 

 bird of this species as 5*6 ; but this is probably a misprint, as the 

 tail of a male, as given by the same author, is only 5-15. 



This species differs from its European ally in being much larger, 

 the wing in Merula vulyaris being seldom more than 5 inches and 

 the tail 4*5 inches. 



* M. kcssleri, Prjev., was obtained by Mandelli in Tibet (S. F. v, p. 484), not 

 far from the Sikhim frontier. In the male the abdomen and Hanks are deep 

 chestnut, in tin- female dull chest nut-brown ; in both sexes the rump is dull 

 rufous, the wings and tail nearly black ; tin- head and breast in the male are 

 black or dark brown, in the female paler and streaked on the throat. Wing 

 5-7 ; tail 4-7. 



