THE BLACK-THKOATED OUZEL. 249 



MERULA ATRIGULARIS. 

 THE BLACK-THROATED OUZEL. 



Turdua atrogularis, Tcmm. Man. d'Oni. i. p. 169 (1820); et auctorum plurimorum 

 — Meyer, Gould, Gray, Blyth, Bonaparte, Newton, Harting, Dresser, &c. 



Turdus bechsteinii, Naum. Viig. DeutscJd. ii. p. 310 (1822). 



Cichloides bechsteinii (Naam.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 153 (1829). 



Sylvia atrogularis (Tetmn.), Savi, Orn. Tosc. iii. p. 203 (1831). 



Merula atrogularis (Temm.), Bonap. Comp. List B. Eur. Sf N. Ainer. p. 17 (1838). 



Turdus atrigularis (Temvi.), Keys. ii. Bias. Wirb. Eur. pp. li, 177 (1840). 



Turdus varicollis, Hodys. MS. Draiviiigs (in the Brit. Mus.) of B. of Nepal, Passeres, 

 pi. 148, nos. 198, 199, & pi. 149, nos. 198, 199 {ieon. iwd.). 



Merula leucogaster, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng. xvi. p. 149 (1847). 



Planesticus atrogularis (Temm.), Bonap. Cat. Parzud. p. 5 (1854). 



Cichloides atrigularis {Temm.), Tytler, Ibis, 1869, p. 124. 



Turdus mystacinus, Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn. pp. 64, 118, 119 (1873). 



The occurrence of this Ouzel iu England^ so far from its true home, 

 together with the fact that its eggs are here described for the first time, 

 renders it a species of considerable interest, not only to British ornitho- 

 logists, hut to all European naturalists who take an interest in the regular 

 migration or nomad wanderings of birds. Its only claim to rank as a 

 British species rests on a a single example taken in the south of England 

 during the winter of 1868. Its occurrence was recorded by Mr. T. J. 

 Monk, into whose possession it came, in the ' Zoologist ■" for February 

 1869, p. 1560, thus:— "On Wednesday, 23rd of December, a fine 

 example of the Black-throated Thrush was shot near Lewes. The bird, 

 wbich proved on dissection to be a male, was in excellent condition, 

 and, having been carefully handled, was in fine order for preservation, 

 and in this respect has received ample justice from the hands of Mr. Sways- 

 land of Brighton, where it may be seen." Mr. G. D. Rowley also brought 

 the circumstances before the Zoological Society of London, where the 

 bird was exhibited. He said (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 4) :— "The specimen of 

 Turdus atrogularis was shot near Lewes, Sussex, on December 23rd, 1868. 

 It is a young male, as shown by its plumage ; dissection also confirmed 

 the fact. I saw the bird in the flesh, and took particular care to ascertain 

 its history, because it belongs to the fauna of Central Asia, and is only an 

 accidental visitor to Europe. To find such a species on the south coast of 

 England appears to me a matter of considerable interest. It is now in 

 the collection of T. J. Monk, Esq., of Mountfield House, near Lewes, 

 who purchased it for a trifle of a working man." The late Mr. Gould also 

 recorded its capture in the ' Ibis ' for 1869, p. 128. 



The Black-throated Ouzel is only known as an occasional straggler into 

 Europe, where it has been obtained in Russia, Germany, Denmark, Bel- 

 gium, France, and Italy. Like White's Ground-Thrush and the Siberian 



