MERULA KINNISI, Blyth. 
CEYLON OUZEL. 
Merula kinnisi, Kelaart, MSS. ; Blyth, J. A. S. Beng. xx. p. 177 (1851); Seebohm, Cat. Birds 
Brit. Mus. v. p. 252 (1881); Oates, Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ii. p. 124 (1890). 
Turdus kinnisi, Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 256. по. 3717 (1869); Legge, B. Ceylon, p. 449 (1879). 
M. saturatè schistacea : rostro et pedibus flavis : pileo schistaceo, minimè nigro, dorso concolore : interscapulio 
quoque dorso concolore. 
THE present species is rather smaller than the representatives of the slaty-grey group of Ойле 
which are found on the hills of Southern India. The slaty-grey tint on both the upper and under 
surface is very clear and distinct. It is not so dark a bird as M. bourdilloni, which it otherwise 
much resembles. 
The following account of the habits of M. kinnisi is copied from Colonel Vincent Legge's 
excellent work on the * Birds of Ceylon’ :— 
“The Blackbird of Ceylon, which bears a great resemblance to our home favourite, is an 
inhabitant of the entire hill portion of the Kandyan Province, from the loftiest regions down to 
an elevation of between 2500 and 3000 feet; it is, I am given to understand, likewise found on the 
uppermost parts of the Morowak and Kolonna Korales, but I have not seen specimens myself from 
that district. It is very numerous at the Horton Plains, in the wilderness of the Peak, the Nuwara- 
Elliya district, and in all the forests of the main range. In Haputale, on the Namooni-kuli hills, the 
Knuckles, and all other ranges where any considerable amount of forest has escaped the woodman's 
axe it is common. On isolated hills, such as the Allegalla peak, I have found it; but it is rare in 
such localities. In many of the coffee-districts intersected with wooded patnas, which furnish it with 
a stronghold, it is a familiar bird, and in the north-east monsoon season appears about the residences 
of the planters. 
“ The presence of this songster at Nuwara Elliya is not without interest to the English colonist ; 
its lively though somewhat subdued matutinal song recalls home recollections and memories of the 
lovely spring time in England, when all nature seems awakened after the slumbers of winter. It 
frequents a variety of situations, passing, however, most of its existence in thick undergrowth, 
particularly in the nilloo and elephant-grass scrub. It strays out of the forest into detached copses, 
umbrageous coffee groves, and about Nuwara ЕШуа resorts even to the gardens and plantations 
surrounding the villas of the residents. It is a very shy bird, feeding entirely in the thick cover 
of the jungle until evening, when the departing sun illumines the borders of the forest; it then 
sallies out, mounting high into trees and pouring out its song, which is neither so loud nor so full 
in tone as that of its English congener; it then proceeds by short flights from tree to tree, uttering 
its call-note of cluck-onk until it finds its way back to its accustomed roosting-place. At the break 
of day it is again abroad, singing before sunrise, and shortly after it retires into neighbouring thickets 
for the entire day. While searching for its food it gives vent to a very low chirp, which one would 
imagine came from the throat of the smallest bird; and when alarmed by the sound of an approaching 
footstep takes refuge into the depths of the scrub with quick hoppings along the ground or short 
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