668 ON THK FIJIAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS MERULA. [DeC. 2, 



to be regretted that so absolutely appropriate a name as Merula 

 vitiensis cannot be applied to the Viti-Levu species, but as it has 

 been previously applied to the Vanua-Levu species it cannot be used 

 for any other. 



The differences between the two species have been already pointed 

 out. 



There is less difference between the sexes in the Viti-Levu Ouzel 

 than there is in the Vanua-Levu species ; but in the male the tail 

 is longer than it is in the female (o'l inches instead of 2"8 inches), 

 tlie chestnut on the breast and flanks is paler and duller in the 

 female than in the male ; the colour of the upper tail-coverts and 

 tail of the male is darker and more rufous (less olive) than in the 

 female ; and the grey on the upper breast is more sharply divided 

 from the chestnut of the lower breast in the male than it is in 

 the female. 



Merula tempesti. 



Tardus tempesti, Layard, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1876, p. 420. 



The Taviuni Ouzel was discovered by Mr. Tempest on the island 

 of Taviuni, and the type is in the Layard Collection. 



It is most nearly allied to Merula poliocephala from Norfolk Island 

 (more than a thousand miles from Taviuni), so nearly indeed that it 

 requires a very accurate knowledge of the species to discriminate 

 hetween them. So far as is known, Merula tempesti always has 

 uniform dark brown or black under tail-coverts, but this seems also 

 to be the case with adult males and very old females of its Norfolk- 

 Island ally. In both species males have the grey of the throat and 

 upper breast sharply divided from the black of the lower breast and 

 belly, whilst in the females the two colours gradually blend into 

 each other. In both se.xes the Taviuni species has a much darker 

 head than the same sex of its Norfolk-Island ally. The crown of 

 Merula tempesti male, and that of Merula poliocephala female, may 

 be described as greyish brown, several shades darker and browner 

 than the brownish grey of Merula poliocephala male ; whilst the 

 crown of Merula tempesti female is brownish black, almost as dark 

 as the back. 



Merula ruficeps. 



Merula ruficeps, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, i. 

 p. 43 (read 29th November, 1875). 



Merula bicolor, Layard, Ibis, 1876, p. 153. 



The Kandavu Ouzel was discovered on the island of Kandavu by 

 Mr. Pearce, wiio seems to have sent skins to Mr. Ramsay and to 

 Mr. Layard, so that the species was almost simultaneously described 

 by each of these ornithologists. 



It is a very handsome species, and appears to be nearest allied to 

 Merula p)ritzbueri from the Loyalty Islands and the New Hebrides, 

 and more distantly to Merula tempesti from Taviuni. It differs 

 from these two species in having the entire head and neck of a rich 

 (almost orange) buff. 



