ME R U L A U N IC O L O R (Tickell).
GREY OUZEL.
Turdus wnicolor, Tickell, J. A. S. Beng. ii. p. 577 (1833).
Turdus modestm, Blyth, J. A. S. Beng. xi: p. 460 (1842, nee Eyton).
Petrodncla homochroa, Hodgs. Icon. ined. in Brit. Mus., Passeres, pi. 139, no. 586; id. m
Gray’s Zool. Misc. p. 83 (1844).
Turdus disdmilis, pt„ Blyth, J. A. S. Beng. xvi. p. 144 (1847). .
Geocichla dissimilis, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. p. 163 (1849); Scully, Str. F. T in . p. 284
■ H wnicolor, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. p. 163 (1849).; Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 519 (1862)
Merula wnicolor, Seehohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. y. p. 271 (1881); Oates, m Humes Nests &
Eggs Ind. B. ii. p. 96 (1890); id. Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ii. p. 132 (1890).
M. rostro et pedibus flavis vel flavicanti-brunneis: grisea: aMomme albo, gutture, pectore et hypochondrns
griseis. $ pectore saturate cinerascente, nigro maculato : axillanbus aurantiaco-fulns.
T h is plain-coloured Ouzel is confined to the Indian Peninsula, nesting in the Himalayas and visiting
the lower valleys and the plains in winter. .p
Mr J. Davidson says that it is “ a very common hird in the Valley of Kashmir, hut apparently
not ranging more than a few miles up the Sind Valley. In the Kashmir Valley itself there were
pairs in every village and grove of trees” (Ibis, 1898, p. 25). Colonel Unwin, in the Appendix to
Mr. Lawrence’s work on Kashmir (p. 151, 1895), o b s e r v e s I t is very common all over the
Valley, frequenting Chenar groves, gardens, &c.”
The species also nests near Masuri and Simla, and Mr. George Reid records it from Ramhag ,
Almora, and Pithoragaxh in Kumaon, and from Kaladunga in the Kumaon Terai (Cat. B. Lucknow
Mus. p. 112, 1890). Specimens from the Oude Terai, procured in December and January, are m the
Hume Collection. Dr. Scully states that he found the Grey Ouzel in small numbers in the Valley of
Nepal in summer, and nesting there. He says that it was always noticed about the skirts of the
central woods, often alighting on the ground and running along pretty quickly, and feedmg in damp
places (Str. F. viii. p. 283). A hird obtained by Dr. Scully in the Sheopuri Forest (7500 feet) m
May was considered by him to he a different species and identified by him as Geocichla dimmilis, hut,
after examining his specimen, I regard it as merely the female of M. wnicolor.
In the Hume Collection is an example of this Ouzel from Darjiling, procured in June, so that
the species doubtless breeds in Sikhim, hut it is evidently rarer in the Eastern Himalayas than m
Kashmir and the north-western hills.
Not many specimens from the plains of India, where the hird is supposed to winter, have been
chronicled. The species was described by Tickell from Bansighar in Borabhum, and it has been
recorded from Orissa, Raipur, and Khandala. A specimen obtained by Jerdon m the Eastern Ghats
is in the British Museum.
Colonel Unwin says that in Kashmir the song of this Thrush may be heard from April till Ju ly ;
it sings at all hours of the day, and particularly in the morning and evening, and on cloudy days