near Khustagh on the 2nd of November, and it was again common near Yangi-hiss&r on the 1st of
December. Colonel Biddulph records it from Yarkand on the 26th of November, and from
Maralbashi in January. He first noticed it at Sanju in November, and it was common about
Kashgar all through the winter. He also obtained a specimen at Maralbashi, but he never saw the
species in Wakkan or on the Pamir, though he again found it when, in May, the expedition returned
to the plains of Yarkand (Sharpe, Sc. Res. 2nd Yark. Miss., Aves, p. 93).
Dr. Scully, in his account of the birds of Eastern Turkestan (Stray Feath. iv. p. 140, 1876),
says that “ this species was first met with at Sulaghz Langar in September, and was a common
bird in the plains, in the neighbourhood of Kashgar, Yarkand, &c., during the winter.'. I t was
usually seen about trees lining watercourses or growing near tanks. The bird disappeared
entirely in spring, migrating in a north-easterly direction, towards the hills and the Lob district,
where it was reported to breed.” Dr. Henderson writes (‘Lahore to Yarkand,’ p. 192):—“ This
species, not observed on the upward journey, was very plentiful on the return march in October
from Chagra (alt. 15,000 feet) above the Pangong Lake, throughout Ladak and Kashmir, and by
November it was widely spread over the plains of the Panjab.”
During the Afghan Boundary Delimitation Commission, Dr. Aitchison found this Ouzel very
numerous in Badghis in winter, especially in the Pistachio forests, where it was very shy and difficult
to get near (Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. (2) Zool. v. pt. 3, p. 72, 1889).
Dr. W. T. Blanford writes in his ‘Zoology of Eastern Persia’ (ii. p. 158, 1876):—“ I found
the Black-throated Thrush common in’ Baluchistan in winter. I t was especially so in the miserable
apologies for gardens at Gwadar, one of the most desolate of inhabited spots on the earth’s surface,
where I can only explain the occurrence of this bird by the circumstance of its being unable to
migrate further on account of the se a; and as confirming this view, I may mention that I saw
several of these birds on some very cold days in January, when, as we afterwards learnt, all the
higher plains in Persia were covered with snow. The birds were very tame, searching for food
around the houses on the open sand-dunes. Elsewhere I only saw this bird in fairly wooded
localities, such as the plains of Pishin and Mand. I, however, did not see it in the much more
fertile and better-wooded plains of Soampur and Narmashir, and I think it probable that before
I reached those places, in the commencement of April, these birds had migrated northwards.” Nor
did either Major St. John or Dr. Blanford ever meet with T. atrigularis on the Persian plateau,
though the former says that he has frequently seen it in winter in gardens about Ispahan (Ibis, 1889,
1 162), .
Mr. Hume obtained two specimens at Gwadar on the Mekran coast on the 19th of February,
1872, and noticed that they were in nearly full breeding-plumage (Str. F. i. p. 179). Specimens have
also been obtained near Bushire from January to March by Mr. A. J . V. Palmer (Sharpe, Ibis,
1886, p. 495), and Mr. Bury has recently met with the species at Yeshbum in South Arabia
(Lorenz & Hellmayr, J. f. O. 1901, p. 240).
In the Seebohm Collection is a specimen from Samarcand, and Dr. Radde met with it in Trans-
caspia at Geomab on the 14th of March, and at Askabad on the 11th of February (cf. Dresser, Ibis
1889, p. 85). .
Colonel Swinhoe (Ibis, 1882, p. 105) says that this Ouzel has been procured by Dr. Duke from
November to February near Quetta, and at Kelat in Northern Baluchistan in December. Sir. O.
St. John found it very common in winter at Kandahar in some years, though scarcely seen in others
(Ibis, 1889, p. 162).
The Black-throated Ouzel is found throughout the Himalayas in winter, and some of the
specimens procured iu spring are in- such beautiful breeding-dress that it could easily be believed
that they were about to nest in these mountain-ranges. Even at Gilgit, however, the species is not
known to breed, Dr. Scully stating that it is a common bird at an elevation of about 5000 feet, from
the first week in October to the middle of May (Ibis, 1881, p. 439). Colonel Biddulph also says:—
“ Not uncommon in winter, but not a summer resident” (Ibis, 1881, p. 63). Mr. Hume writes
(Stray Feath. i. p. 179, 1873):—“ In the better cultivated portions of the Upper Sindh, especially
in and about groves and gardens, this species was very common. We used continually to see it
busy on the ground in the thick brush-wood, turning over leaves in a most systematic and businesslike
manner. I particularly noticed it on one occasion working a large patch of dead leaves
backwards and forwards as a pointer would a field of turnips. Occasionally it was also seen in
localities entirely devoid of trees, feeding in the irregular patches of a kind of mustard that is so
generally grown throughout Sindh. About Hyderabad I again noticed it.”
The series of specimens in the Hume Collection shows that M. atrigularis is found over a
considerable portion of the Indian Peninsula in winter, especially the Punjab and South-west
Provinces, while it occurs also throughout the Himalayas from Gilgit to Assam. I t is found as far
south as Dacca, and Blyth noticed it near Barrackpur, where, however, it was rarely seen (Ibis,
1866, p. 376).
Mr. Hume (Str. F. xi. p. 128, 1888) says that he has received specimens of this species from
Shillong and the Khasia Hills, N.E. Cachar, and the Dibrugarh district, and he saw some birds near
Karimgunj in Sylhet, as well as in the western hills of Manipur. In the winter of 1879 Mr. J . R.
Cnpps says that the species was very common near Dibrugarh: it was a very dry season, but in
other winters a few were always to be seen about. Mr. Stuart Baker (J. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. ix.
p. 27) says that it is an extremely common bird in Northern Cachar, and may often be seen in
considerable numbers feeding together in the rice jhums. Colonel Godwin-Austen has procured the
species in the Lhota Naga Hills, the Khasias, and the Dafla Hills, as well as near Sadya.
I t does not seem to have been found in the Burmese Provinces, but Colonel Bingham and
Mr. H. N. Thompson saw a specimen close to their camp at Loi-San-Pa, in the Southern Shan Hills,
at 6000 feet (J. A. S. Beng. 1900, p. 120).
The Black-throated Ouzel has occurred in different parts of Europe, and Professor Martorelli
gives a long list of occurrences (Ornis, 1901, pp. 261-264) in Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany,
England, France, Italy, Austria, and Hungary.
In the ‘Ibis for 1901, Mr. Dresser describes and figures four eggs of the present species,
obtained by Mr. H. L. Popham in the Yenesei Valley on the 13th of June, 1897. He believes these
to be the first properly authenticated eggs of the Black-throated Thrush, as he does not seem to
consider the eggs from the Altai Mountains, received from Mr. Tancre’s collectors, to have been
correctly identified. Seebohm, however, believed in their proper identification and considered that
his was the first description ever published. About the authenticity of Mr. Popham’s specimens no
doubt can exist, as he took five nests, each containing six eggs, at Inbatskaya on the Yenesei River.
Mr. Dresser states that the eggs “ vary considerably, some almost exactly resembling the ordinary type
of the Blackbird, whereas others are more like those of the Mistle-Thrush, but have the groundcolour
of a deeper blue. In size they vary from 1-08 to IT 5 by 0-77 to 0*84 in.”
Adult male. General colour above ashy grey, with slight indications of dusky centres to the
feathers of the crown; wing-coverts like the back, with slightly paler ashy fringes to the greater
series; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills sepia-brown, with hoary grey edges to the la tte r;
tail-feathers sepia-brown, washed with grey on the margins; lores, an indistinct eyebrow, sides of
face, and entire throat and fore-neck black; ear-coverts ashy-brown posteriorly like the head;
remainder of under surface of body from the fore-neck downwards dingy white, the sides of the body,