MERULA CASTANEA, Gould. 
GREY-HEADED CHESTNUT OUZEL. 
Merula castanea, Gould, P. Z. S. 1835, p. 185 ; Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 259 (1881); 
Oates, Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ii. p. 128 (1890). 
Turdus rubrocanus, Hodgs. Icon. ined, in Brit. Mus., Passeres, pl. cliv. no. 575; id. in Gray's 
Zool. Misc. p. 83 (1844). 
Turdus castaneus, Gray, Cat. Mamm. &c. Nepal pres. Hodgs. p. 81 (1846). 
Geocichla castanea, Bp. Consp. i. p. 268 (1850). 
M. castanea : alis caudáque nigris : rostro et pedibus flavis : pileo et collo undique pallidé cinerascentibus : abdomine 
albido, plumis basin versüs nigris. 
РА 
THE Grey-headed Chestnut Ouzel, as I prefer to call this bird, since it indicates the chestnut-coloured 
group to which the species belongs, is found throughout the Himalayas, from Kashmir to Assam. 
The specimens from the Eastern Himalayas are a shade darker than those from the more western 
localities. Mr. Oates (Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ii. p. 128) gives the range as from Murree to Sikhim 
and the Garo Hills, but it is not only found in Kashmir, but breeds there. The above-named author 
thinks that it probably lives during the summer months in Central Asia and Eastern Thibet, but he 
rightly adds :—** This distribution has not, however, been confirmed ” : nor, in my opinion, is it ever 
likely to be, as this Chestnut Ouzel, akin to our European Ring-Ouzel in its way of nesting, is a 
thoroughly Himalayan species, and it is scarcely probable that it will ever be found to occur outside 
this area. It breeds in the higher ranges, and descends to the lower valleys in the winter. 
According to Colonel Unwin, this Thrush is found in summer at Gulmarg in Kashmir, and he 
says that he has heard it "singing at Dandwár in early April, while the snow yet lay deep in the 
forests. It breeds in May and June, often placing its nest in the lower branches of a * Budil ” 
fir-tree ( Abies webbiana), laying four or five eggs of a greenish blue, thickly mottled with brown. It 
is fairly common, especially in the hills on the south and south-east side of the valley. Тһе song is 
generally uttered in the evening, as the bird sits on the top of some small fir-tree, and is very charming, 
being the nearest Himalayan resemblance to the note of our English Song-Thrush." (Lawrence's 
* Valley of Kashmir,' p. 152.) 
Mr. J. Davidson, in his account of a visit to Kashmir, says :—“ We saw pairs of this bird at 
Gund, and also at Sonamurg. It must be a very early breeder, as we shot young flying on the 
28th day of May. We obtained also several nests with eggs or small young during May and June; 
one of these was in the face of a rock on a steep hill, and the others were from three to seven feet 
from the ground on stunted trees; they were composed of dead leaves and grass, lined with 
mud, and then neatly lined with fine grass-roots. Тһе number of eggs or young was either three 
or four.” Тһе Hume Collection contains a specimen obtained at Ruttum Pir in May. 
Dr. Stoliczka (7. A. S. Beng. xxxvii. pt. 2, p. 35) states that this Ouzel visits Kotegurh in the 
winter; but it must also nest there, as recorded by Mr. Hume (vide infra). 
Near Murree it likewise breeds, the nest having been found by Colonel С, H. Т, Marshall. 
Capt. Rattray (J. Bomb. N. H. Soc. x. p. 630, 1897) also records it as nesting in the same portion of 
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