20 TUBDUS 



Merle a plastron, French ; Melro de peito franco, Portug. ; 

 Churlo, Span. ; Merlo col petto bianco, Ital. ; Ring-Amsel, German ; 

 Domine Dutch : Ring-Drossel, Dan. ; Ringtrost, Norweg. ; Ring- 

 Trast, Swed. ; Cappis-rastas, Lapp. ; Sepel-rastas, Finn. ; Drozd- 

 bielozoltyi, Russ. 



( ad. (Scotland). Entire plumage brownish black except a white 

 gorget extending across the lower throat ; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts deep brown margined with white ; bill orange ; legs horn -brown ; 

 iris dark brown. Culmen 1*0, wing 5 '7, tail 4'4, tarsus, 1-3 inch. Female 

 dull brown, the gorget brownish white. In winter the feathers on the under 

 parts are margined with white, and on the upper parts with brownish. 



Hob. Europe, north to the North Cape, east to the Ural, 

 south in winter to the Mediterranean and North Africa. 



Frequents moors and especially highlands, but in the winter, 

 and on passage is often seen in cultivated fields and gardens, and 

 is as a rule very shy and wary. Its call-note is a sharp teck, tock, 

 tock, and its song is monotonous and not of a high order. Its 

 food is similar to that of its allies, and is obtained chiefly on 

 the ground. It breeds in April or May, sometimes in June, its 

 nest which resembles that of T. merula, being placed in a low 

 bush, in rocks, banks, or on the ground, and the eggs 4 to 

 5 in number are pale green or watery blue, blotched and 

 spotted with dark red and in size vary from 1*05 by 0*82 to 1*20 

 by 0-88. 



24. SUBSP. TURDUS ALPESTRIS. 



Turdus alpestris, Ch. Brehm. Isis, 1828, p. 1281 ; Naumann, Taf. 36 1, 

 fig. 3 ; Dresser, ix. p. 9, pis. 15, 635. 



$ ad. (Transylvania). Differs from T. torquatus in having the feathers 

 on the under parts broadly margined with white and with a large white 

 median patch, the female also having broad white margins. In winter 

 the feathers on the upper parts have broad brown margins, and the white 

 portions of the plumage are duller in colour. 



Hal). The mountain ranges of south central and southern 

 (chiefly south-eastern) Europe ; Asia Minor, and it is probably 

 this form which is found in Persia. In winter it descends to the 

 lowlands, and probably visits North Africa. 



In habits it resembles T. torquatus, but its song is said to be 

 more powerful and of a higher quality, and it differs in placing 

 its nest in a tree, usually a spruce, at from 15 to 50 feet above 

 the ground. Its eggs resemble those of T. torquatus, but are, as 

 a rule, bluer in tone of ground colour, and less boldly marked. 



