234 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus MERULA. 



The genus Merula, though foreshadowed by Brisson^ was only half 

 adopted by Gerini, and dates a doubtful pedigree from 1816, when Leach, 

 in his ' Systematic Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds in the British 

 Museum/ adopted the prae-Linnsean name oi Merula nigra for the Blackbird. 

 As this species is also the Tardus merula of Brissou and Linnseus, there 

 can be no doubt that it is the type of the genus Merula. 



The Ouzels differ from the Ground-Thrushes in not possessing the 

 peculiar wing-pattern of those birds, and from the Thrushes in having the 

 adult male either quite different from the female, or without any streaks 

 on the throat. 



The genus Merula contains about fifty species. The Neotropical and 

 Oriental Regions contain about fifteen species each, and the Palsearctic and 

 Australian Regions about ten each, whilst in the Nearctic and ^Ethiopian 

 Regions the genus is unrepresented. Only two species breed in Europe 

 (both of them in England) ; but several of the Siberian Ouzels occasionally 

 wander westwards, and one of them at least has visited our shores. 



The Ouzels are most of them strictly arboreal birds in their habits, 

 frequenting woods, groves, shrubberies, and well-timbered lands. They 

 are somewhat shy atid retiring birds, seldom straying far from cover, and 

 are more or less sociable among themselves. Amongst this group of birds 

 we find the power of song most highly developed, no bird exceeding the 

 typical Blackbird in the rich compass of its notes. These birds aU build 

 open well-constructed nests, usually made of dry grasses, twigs, moss, 

 and mud, placing them in bushes, sometimes on the ground, and more 

 rarely in the higher branches. Their eggs are from four to seven in 

 number, bluish green of various shades in ground-colour, more or less 

 richly marked with reddish brown. Their food consists of worms, grubs, 

 snails, insects, fruits, and berries. 



