lo 



When in 1872 (Birds of Eur. ii. p. 114) we remarked on a stage of plumage in the Ring- 

 Ousel which, so far as we could ascertain, was not mentioned by any of the leading authorities on 

 European ornithology, we failed to connect this bird with Dr. C. L. Brehm's Merula alpestris, 

 which was then considered to be merely a synonym of Turdus torquatus. To Dr. Stejneger 

 belongs the credit of having solved this question, and of having clearly demonstrated that 

 Brehm's Merula alpestris is a good species, and that the northern and South European forms of 

 Eing-Ousel should be considered as specifically separable. In his article on Turdus alpestris 

 and Turdus torquatus (Proc. U.S. Nat. Museum, 1886, p. 365) he says, referring to the above- 

 cited description of the young female in the ' Birds of Europe ' : — " This curious livery is not 

 mentioned in any of the usual standard works on European ornithology. It is not described by 

 Temminck, Nilsson, Naumann, Degland, Yarrell and Newton, Macgillivray, &c. Neither have 

 authors writing later than the publication of Dresser's grand work given it even a passing notice. 

 Mr. H. Seebohm, who in 1881 monographed the Thrushes (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. v.), and who in 

 1883 treated of the Ring-Thrush in his 'History of British Birds,' has also passed by it in 

 absolute silence. Nevertheless, as I shall show later on, the ' livery ' in question has been 

 mentioned repeatedly in the literature, not as a special plumage of the Ring-Thrush, but as a 

 separate species. If some of the authors quoted above had consulted the references cited by 

 themselves in their synonymies, they would have found it described by C. L. Brehm as Merula 

 alpestris." Dr. Stejneger then proceeds to prove his assertion, and I can only add that after a 

 careful examination of a large series of specimens I most fully concur in his view that Turdus 

 torquatus from Northern Europe, and Turdus alpestris from Southern Europe, should be treated 

 as specifically separable forms. The name Merula alpestris was first used by Brehm in 1828 

 (Isis, p. 1281), without any description, but in 1831 (' Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vogel 

 Deutschlands,' p. 377) he gives a detailed description, of which the following is a translation : — 

 " It is smaller than all the preceding species, and the male resembles them, but the female is 

 differently marked. The upper parts of the female are as in her allies, and the underparts also 

 down to below the light-coloured collar, but the breast and abdomen have a varied appearance. 

 Each feather has, namely, besides the light border, a large white median spot interrupted by a 

 blackish shaft-stripe, which forces the black towards tne white border : " and he adds that it 

 " inhabits the Alps of the Tyrol on the border of tree-growth below the eternal snow, and visits 

 Central Germany rarely in October." 



The next reference to Turdus alpestris is in 1848, when Brehm (Isis, 1848, pp. 91-93) 

 published some observations by Count von Gourcy Droitaumont on the song of several German 

 birds, together with remarks by himself, in which he gives a parallel comparison of the male in 

 spring of T. torquatus and T. alpestris, which I need not translate in extenso, but merely 

 mention that he clearly points out the main distinguishing character, viz. that T. alpestris 

 has white margins to all, and central white spots on most of the leathers below the white 

 collar, which are most prominent in summer, and -which are never seen in T. torquatus ; aud 

 he further adds that T. torquatus has the song described by Bechstein, and not at all the loud 

 whistle of T. alpestris, which has the loud penetrating song described by Count von Gourcy 

 Droitaumont. 



In 1856 (J. f. O. 1856, p. 376) Brehm again refers to Turdus alpestris, and (torn. cit. p. 446) 



