240 
Page 58. Add:— 
MERULA PALLIDIVENTRIS (Berlepsch). 
MERIDA GIANT OUZEL. 
Turdus gigas pallidiventris, Berlepsch, Ота. MB. x. p. 71 (1902). 
Count von BEnLEPSCH has lately separated the Giant Ouzel from Merida in Venezuela from the 
true M. gigas of Colombia and Ecuador. I have already alluded to the two specimens from Merida 
in the Museum Collection, but I had not ventured to separate them from M. gigas, as neither of them 
were quite mature. On comparing them again with the large series of the last-named species, I am 
able to confirm Count von Berlepsch’s diagnosis of the Merida race, though the characters are very 
slight for its separation. The under surface of the body in M. pallidiventris is rather paler and more 
of a clear ashy-grey. The upper surface is somewhat lighter also, and in one specimen there is a 
decided wash of ochre on the under wing-coverts, though this is scarcely at all developed in the 
second example, which has a wash of ochre on the breast. The describer of the species is so good 
an observer, that it is possible that the differences are more accentuated in adult birds, of which we 
have none as yet in the Museum. 
The variations of М. gigas are not at all well understood, and it is quite possible that 
there are still some races to be described; but until we know more about the moults and the 
differences of plumage at different seasons of the year, it seems to me premature to describe the forms 
as distinct. 
Page 100. Add:— 
MERULA MELANARIA, Madarász. 
Merula melanaria, Madarász, Orn. MB. viii. p. 23 (1900). 
Tus supposed species from the Astrolabe Mountains, in British New Guinea, has been described 
by Dr. von Madarász as allied to M. mareensis (Layard € Tristr.). I consider that it will, in all 
probability, be found to be identical with M. papuensis. 
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