14 
Kung and оп the River Zanma: in the last-named district he also met with it in May 1877. Оп 
the southern slope of the Thian Shan he saw an example in the wooded ravines of the Balgantai-Gol, 
and he twice procured the species in the valleys of the Lower Tarim in winter. Again he met with 
it wintering in Gass in November and in the Oasis of Aksu in 1885. In October of the latter year 
he noticed it in the brush-wood of the Uital ravines, on the southern slope of the Thian-Shan 
Mountains, so that it appears to spend the summer in the woods of the northern slopes of the latter 
range and to winter in the lower portions. 
During the Second Yarkand Mission, Dr. Stoliczka found the species common near Bora and 
Yangihissar in November. It was also obtained near Yarkand in November, and both Dr. Stoliczka 
and Colonel Biddulph met with this Blackbird at Káshgar in January. At Bora the native name 
was “ Ката Shachshák,” but near Yarkand Dr. Scully says that it is known as the * Maina." 
The latter observer says that the Blackbird is common in winter near Káshgar and Yarkand. “It 
seemed to keep principally among Elewagnus trees and thorn-bushes in the vicinity of unfrozen bits 
ofwater. It migrated northwards in spring, repairing to the hills and the country about Marálbáshi, 
and it seemed to feed principally on berries &c." 
Iu the Seebohm Collection are female birds procured by the late Dr. Severtzoff at Tashkend in 
September, November, and December; and Severtzoff states (Turkest. Jevotn. p. 64) that it breeds 
in the north-eastern, north-western, and south-eastern districts of Turkestan, and is also found in 
winter in these localities, but it is only met with in the south-western part of the country in winter 
(cf. Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 332). It breeds in the districts of the larch-woods, apple- and ash- 
groves of the Karatau and the lower Thian-Shan Mountains to an altitude of 4500 feet, or in some 
places to 7000 or 8000 feet, as well as in the fir- and birch-woods of the Thian Shan to an altitude 
of 8500—10,500 feet, or the juniper district. In the lower Thian-Shan Mountains it is found in 
winter, as also in the cultivated districts, the grassy steppes, and the gardens to 3000 or 4000 feet. 
Throughout the latter districts it also occurs on migration (cf. Dresser, 1. c.). 
Professor Menzbier has recorded the species from the Upper Tarim River (Ibis, 1885, p. 356). 
Specimens from Ferghana, procured by Severtzoff in January and February, are in the Seebohm 
Collection, and Stolzmann mentions that several specimens were obtained at Khokand in January, 
February, and March, and at Marguelane in October, by Mr. Barey (Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou, 1897, 
р. 74). The same naturalist met with the Eastern Blackbird (which Dr. Stolzmann calls Merula 
merula maxima) at Merv in December and at Soultan-Bent in November (Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. 
Moscou, 1892, p. 402). 
The late Dr. Aitchison, during the Afghan Boundary Delimitation Commission, obtained 
specimens at Khusan, on the Hari-Rud, on November 22nd, and again at Bala-Murghab on the 14th 
of December, 1894 (Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. (2) Zool. v. pt. 3, p. 72). Colonel Swinhoe (Ibis, 1882, 
p. 106) procured many specimens near Kandahar, and says that the species is common in the district 
in winter. 
The male of M. intermedia does not offer any characters for separation from M. merula beyond 
its slightly larger size, the wing measuring from 6:2 to 5:5 inches. According to Dr. Stoliczka a 
male bird from Káshgar had the bill yellow, streaked with black about the base, the feet black, the 
iris dark brown, and the eyelid yellow: total length 11:4 inches, culmen 1:15, tail 4-5, tarsus 1:4, 
The female of M. intermedia is a much greyer bird than that of M. merula: the wing measures 
from 4:9 to 5:5 inches. 
Dr. Stolzmann (Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou, 1892, p. 402) has already directed attention to the 
increased size of the Blackbirds of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and their gradual approach to 
the dimensions of the Central-Asian bird, and points out that the specimens from the Caucasus are 
intermediate. He also draws attention to the fact that the claws are larger in the more eastern 
birds, [R. B. 8.] 
