21 
in forks of trees at по great distance from the ground, but its favourite position is, at the height of 
20 or 30 feet, right on the summit of a stump of a Ficus-tree, from which the Bhutias have cut the 
top, and pollarded for the sake of the leaves for their milch-cows. The nest is kept in its place, and 
concealed, by the upright shoots springing away from below the stump end, and, usually, the bottom 
of the nest fits the end of the stem. For better concealment a little loose moss is allowed to hang a 
short way down the stem. A rather isolated tree is generally chosen, the bird, I suspect, objecting 
to the drip off lofty trees. Іп building, a neat compact shell is first made of twigs and moss, then 
a good coating of mud, and finally a thick lining of fibry roots. Externally it measures about 
6 inches across by 3-2 in height; internally the cavity is 3:5 inches in diameter by 2 in depth. The 
number of eggs is four.' 
« Mr. Brooks writes to me on 29th August, 1868 :—* Before I left, Mr. Horne sent me two eggs 
of Merula boulboul. They measure 1:33 by 79 inch and 1:22 by ‘91 inch; ground-colour pale 
greenish, very thickly speckled and mottled all over (almost hiding the ground-colour) with 
brownish red; the markings quite confluent and darker on the large end. ‘These two eggs are the 
richest coloured Thrushes’ eggs I have ever seen. These eggs were taken at Binsar, 12 miles from 
Almorah, on the 8th of August. I never found the nest, but Horne found several, the earliest in 
April. Indeed I myself shot a full-sized young one in June. Horne told me that the nest was 
sometimes placed on a rock-side, Ring-Ouzel-fashion, and sometimes in low trees, and was composed 
principally of moss and lined with grasses.’ 
“From Mahasoo, near Simla, it is recorded by Sir E. C. Buck: ‘June 30th. Nest on a branch of 
a pollard holly, 12 feet from the ground, in fork between branch and trunk, constructed externally 
of moss and lichen, internally lined with strong dry grass and with a layer of mud below, between 
external and internal layers.’ " 
Adult male. General colour above black, including the tail; wings also black, excepting the 
ends of the median coverts and the outer edges of the greater coverts and inner secondaries, which 
are lavender-grey, more or less inclining to white externally; entire under surface of body black, the 
under tail-coverts with ashy-whitish margins and indistinct shaft-streaks ; under wing-coverts and 
lower surface of quills black: “bill orange-red; feet brownish-orange; iris brown; edges of 
eyelids orange-yellow " (4. 0. Hume). Total length 10 inches, culmen 1:0, wing 5:65, tail 4'2, 
tarsus 1:35. 
Adult female. Dark olivaceous-brown both above and below; the tips of the median wing-coverts 
and the greater coverts lighter brown than the back and with paler ends, inclining to whitish near 
the tips; quills and tail brownish-black, the inner secondaries lighter brown on their outer webs; 
throat and fore-neck with indications of dusky black streaks; under tail-coverts with pale ashy 
margins: “ bill dark brown, yellow on the edges and gape; feet yellowish-brown; iris brown ; edges 
of eyelids pale yellow” (4. O. Hume). Total length 10:5 inches, culmen 1:0, wing 5:5, tail 4:2, 
tarsus 1:2. 
Young male. Black above, with pale buff or whitish shaft-streaks to the feathers of the upper 
surface; wings and tail as in the adult; under surface of body rich ochraceous-buff, mottled with 
black edges to the feathers and having pale shaft-streaks; lower breast, abdomen, and under tail- 
coverts black with white shaft-lines, the feathers of the abdomen mottled with sub-terminal bars of 
ashy: “bill horny-brown, reddish on the edges; feet dusky reddish-brown ” (W. Davison). 
The male and female birds described are from Sikhim, in the Hume Collection, and the pair 
figured in the Plate are from Sikhim, in the Seebohm Collection. ГЕ. В. 8.1 
