124 TURDIDJE. 



Distribution. I have examined specimens of this Blackbird from 

 Kashmir, Kandahar, Bala Murghab, Tashkent!, and Yarkand. It: 

 meets M. vulgarism Persia, and both species occur in that country. 



Habits, fyc. According to Scully, this bird is said not to be 

 uncommon during the winter near Kashgarh and Yarkand. It 

 seemed to keep principally among Elezgnus trees and thorn-bushes 

 in the vicinity of unfrozen bits of water. It migrated northwards 

 in spring. St. John states that it is common about Kandahar. 



667. Merula simillima. The Nilgiri Blackbird. 



Turd us simillimus, Jerd. Madr. Journ. L. 8. x, p. 253 (1839). 



Merula simillima (Jerd.), Blyth, Cat. p. 162 ; Horsf. # M. Cat. i, 

 p. 401 ; Jerd. B. 1. i, p. 524 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 232 ; Fairbank, 

 S. F. v, p. 403 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 2ol ; Hume, Cat. 

 no. 360 ; Gates in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 88. 



Coloration. Male. Forehead, crown, and nape black ; the whole 

 upper plumage and the outer webs of the feathers of the wings and 

 tail dark ashy brown ; the whole lower plumage, axillaries, and 

 under wing-coverts dark brown, the feathers indistinctly edged 

 paler. 



Female. The whole upper plumage, including the forehead, crown, 

 and nape, dark ashy brown ; the whole lower plumage, including 

 the axillaries and under wing-coverts, brownish grey, some of the 

 feathers of the abdomen with whitish shafts ; chin and throat 

 streaked with dark brown. 



Iris brown ; bill reddish orange ; orbital skin and eyelids 

 yellow; legs orange-yellow (Wardlaiv Ramsay}. 



Length about 10-5 ; tail 4-2 ; wing 5 to 5-2 ; tarsus 1-25 ; bill 

 from gape 1*2. 



Distribution. A resident on the higher portions of the Nilgiri 

 hills, the Brahmagiris in Coorg, and the Palni hills. 



Habits, fyc. Frequents dense woods, occasionally entering 

 gardens. Breeds from March to May, constructing a massive 

 cup-shaped nest of ferns, grass, moss, and roots, more or less 

 plastered together with mud, in a branch of a tree up to 20 feet 

 from the ground. The eggs, usually four or five in number, are 

 greenish marked with brownish red, and measure about 1/17 

 by -86. 



668. Merula kinnisi. The Ceylon Blackbird. 



Merula kinnisii, Kelaart, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xx, p. 177 (1851) ; id. 



Ibis, 1867, p. 304; Hume, Cat. no. 360 his ; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. 



v, p. 252 ; Oates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 90. 

 Turd us kinnisi (Blyth), Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 449. 



Coloration. Male. Upper plumage black, each feather with a 

 bluish-grey margin at all seasons apparently ; quills and wing- 

 coverts black, with similar margins ; tail black, the feathers with 

 narrow and less distinct bluish-grey margins ; lower plumage 

 slaty brown, each feather with a pale margin. 



