Kling and on the River Zanma : in the last-named district he also met with it in May 1877. On
the southern slope of the Thian Shan he saw an example in the wooded ravines of the Balgantai-Gol,
and he twice procured the species in the valleys of the Lower Tarim in winter. Again he met with
it wintering in Gass in November and in the Oasis of Aksu in 1885. In October of the latter year
he noticed it in the brush-wood of the Uital ravines, on the southern slope of the Thian-Shan
Mountains, so that it appears to spend the summer in the woods of the northern slopes of the latter
range and to winter in the lower portions.
During the Second Yarkand Mission, Dr. Stoliczka found the species common near Bora and
Yangihissar in November. I t was also obtained near Yarkand in November, and both Dr. Stoliczka
and Colonel Biddulph met with this Blackbird at Kashgar in January. At Bora the native name
was “ Karha Shachshàk,” but near Yarkand Dr. Scully says that it is known as the “ Maina.”
The latter observer says that the Blackbird is common in winter near Kashgar and Yarkand. “ It
seemed to keep principally among Eleceagnus trees and thorn-bushes in the vicinity of unfrozen bits
of water. I t migrated northwards in spring, repairing to the hills and the country about Maràl bàshi,
and it seemed to feed principally on berries &c.”
In the Seebohm Collection are female birds procured by the late Dr. SevertzofF at Tashkend in
September, November, and December; and SevertzofF states (Turkest. Jevotn. p. 64) that it breeds
in the north-eastern, north-western, and south-eastern districts of Turkestan, and is also found in
winter in these localities, but it is only met with in the south-western part of the country in winter
(cf. Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 332). I t breeds in the districts of the larch-wóods, apple- , and ash-
groves of the Karatau and the lower Thian-Shan Mountains to an altitude of 4500 feet, or in some'
places to 7000 or 8000 feet, as well as in the fir- and birch-woods of the Thian Shan to an altitude
of 8500-10,500 feet, or the juniper district. In the lower Thian-Shan Mountains it is found in
winter, as also in the cultivated districts, the grassy steppes, and the gardens to 3000 or 4000 feet.
Throughout the latter districts it also occurs on migration ( c f Dresser, I. c.)..
Professor Menzbier has recorded the species from the Upper Tarim River (Ibis, 1885, p. 356).
Specimens from Ferghana, procured by SevertzofF in January and February, are in the" Seebohm
Collection, and Stolzmann mentions that several specimens were obtained at Khokand in January,
February, and March, and at Marguelane in October, by Mr. Barey (Bull. Soci Nat. Moseou, 1897,
p. 74). The same naturalist met with the Eastern Blackbird (which Dr. Stolzmann calls Merula
merula maxima) at Merv in December and at Soultan-Bent in November (Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat.
Moseou, 1892, p. 402).
The late Dr. Aitchison, during the Afghan Boundary Delimitation Commission, obtained
specimens at Khusan, on the Hari-Rud, on November 22nd, and again at Bala-Murghab on the 14th
of December, 1894 (Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. (2) Zool. v. pt. 3, p. 72). Colonel Swinhoe (Ibis, 1882,
p. 106) procured many specimens near Kandahar, and says that the species is common in the district
in winter.
The male of M. intermedia does not offer any characters for separation from M. merula beyond
its slightly larger size, the wing measuring from 6‘2 to 5-5 inches. According to Dr. Stoliczka a
male bird from Kashgar had the bill yellow, streaked with black about the base, the feet black, the
iris dark brown, and the eyelid yellow : total length 11*4 inches, culmen 1T5, tail 4*5, tarsus 1*4.
The female of M. intermedia is a much greyer bird than that of M. merula : the wing measures
from 4*9 to 5*5 inches.
Dr. Stolzmann (Bull. Soc. Nat. Moseou, 1.892, p. 402) has already directed attention to the
increased size of the Blackbirds of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and their gradual approach to
the dimensions of the Central-Asian bird, and points out that the specimens from the Caucasus are*
intermediate. He also draws attention to the fact that the claws are larger in the more eastern
birds. |1 | S S.]
ME R U L A MAXIMA, Seebohm.
KASHMIR BLACKBIRD.
Merula vulgaris (nec Linn.), Jerdon, Ibis, 1872, p. 137.
Merula maxima, Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 405 (1881) ; Oates, Faun. Brit. Ind.,
Birds, ii. p. 123 (1890, pt.),
Merula merula maximai Richmond, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xviii. p. 486 (1895).
M. similis M. merula, sed major : alà 5‘85 poll.
T h e type of this species is a young bird procured by Jerdon in Kashmir and now in the Tweeddale
Collection in the British Museum. The wing in this specimen is.5*85 inches in length.
Seebohm considered the Kashmir Blackbird to be identical with the Blackbird of Yarkand,
and in this‘Conclusion he is followed by Mr. Oates (Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ih p. 123), where the
range of the species is given as extending to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Mr. Richmond (Proc.
tl.S, Nat. Mus. xviii. p. 486) records a couple of specimens, procured by Dr. Abbott in Central
Kashmir at a height of 11,000 and 12,000 feet, as having a wing of over 5-8 inches, which is larger
than that of any specimen from Yarkand or Central Asia.
I t would appear, therefore, that a large Blackbird exists in Kashmir, breeding in the high
mountains, but I have not enough specimens before me to say more upon the subject. The young
bird procured by Dr. Jerdon is certainly unlike the young of any European Blackbird I have
seen.
The two specimens procured by Dr. Abbott in July 1891 are described by Mr. Richmond as in
very abraded summer plumage. He writes “ They were doubtless resident and breeding in
Central Kashmir. They bear out Mr. Seebohm’s original measurements and point to the higher
altitudes as the summer home of this form. I t is quite probable that this bird does not range very
far north of Kashmir, as the birds of Eastern Turkestan are referable to a form intermediate between
this one and the common Blackbird of Europe. The Abbott specimens, though much abraded, give
the following measurements :-r—
Wing. Tail. Tarsus.
Exposed
" culmen.
in. in. in. in.
? ad. . . . 5-07 1-40 0-96
? ad- . . . 4-73 40 0 9 6 ”