36 
Dr. Stejneger gives a translation of the article in which Brehm sets forth the differences 
between his Merula alpestris and the true М. torquata, and with the series now before me in the 
British Museum there cannot be a shadow of doubt that the two species are quite distinct; while 
agreeing with the strictures which Dr. Stejneger passes upon European ornithologists for their 
neglect of Brehm's genius, I would add that, if he had as clearly defined the characters of all his 
supposed species as he has done those of the two Ring-Ouzels, there would have been less ignorance 
in ornithological circles as to the distinction of the races of birds to which he gave native names. 
Looking at the series of Merula torquata and M. alpestris in the Tring Museum, where, thanks to 
the forethought of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, the Brehm Collection has been rescued from decay 
and made available for scientific study, the differences are so apparent between the two forms that 1 
could not possibly have overlooked them had I had such material before me in 1872. 
Merula alpestris is a bird of the alpine regions of Central and Southern Europe, in which 
districts it breeds and migrates southwards apparently within a limited area, but it is by no means 
such а migrant as the Northern Ring-Ouzel (М. torquata). Тһе latter bird passes through the 
countries where M. alpestris is resident, so that in many countries of Europe both species can be 
procured, but the breeding-range of the two birds is quite distinct and is well defined. 
My friend Mr. Ernst Hartert has examined with me the specimens of Ring-Ouzels in the Brehm 
Collection at Tring, and has given me the following notes on the distribution of the species in 
Germany. He writes :—“ Merula torquata alpestris of С. L. Brehm breeds throughout the Alps, 
Styria, Carinthia, and іп the mountains of Hungary, as also on the Riesengebirge. The Brehm 
Collection contains adult specimens shot from April to July on the Rechberg, Mount Obie, and 
Altenberg in Carinthia, and there are nestlings from Gartein and Mt. Obie. "There are no specimens 
from the Riesengebirge in the Brehm Collection and I have never examined skins from there, but 
there can be no doubt that the form which breeds there rather frequently (according to Kollibay and 
others) is M. t. alpestris and not M. t. torquata. It certainly does not breed in the Harz, nor do I 
think it breeds on the Feldberg in the Taunus near Frankfurt. I have twice been through the woods 
around the Feldberg with the special object of finding it, but failed on each occasion; nor do Ithink 
that it is at all likely that it breeds there, for the elevations that it occupies on the Riesengebirge 
are higher than the altitude of Feldberg. "There is only one record of its having been seen there, but 
the birds were most likely the true northern M. torquata torquata on passage. There is also по 
absolute proof of its breeding in the Thüringer Wald, for Brehm only received the true torquata 
on passage from there. Specimens having been, or said to have been, seen later in May are no proof 
of a bird's actual breeding in a locality." 
In Transylvania Messrs. Danford and Harvie-Brown found it common everywhere, and to some 
extent migratory. Herr Buda Ádám says that it nests among the pines, but he has never found 
them breeding in the low country. He saw them in the oak-woods at Sztána, near Klausenburg, on 
the 10th of June. Mr. Dresser publishes the following letter addressed to him by Mr. Danford 
from Hatszeg in Hungary :—“ I have just come down from the mountains, and the Ring-Ouzels 
are still (Oct. 16) there, feeding among the juniper-bushes above the pine-woods. They come to 
the low country in the early spring and soon go up the hills, where they take up their quarters 
among the pines at an elevation of from 3000 to 5000 feet. Where they go in winter I do not 
know, but 1 never see them at that season, either high up or low down. They are very numerous, 
being quite the characteristic bird of our woods.” 
It is doubtless M. alpestris which nests in Switzerland and the Pyrenees. Dr. Victor Fatio and 
Dr. Studer, in their list of the birds of the former country, state that the Ring-Ouzel nests 
throughout the whole chain of the Alps and in the mountains of the Jura, descending in winter to 
the valleys, but being very seldom seen іп the plains (Cat. distr. Ois. de la Suisse, p. 27, 1892). It 
