M E R U L A E U N OMU S , Temm.
SIBERIAN DUSKY OUZEL.
Turdus fuscatus, Ball. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 451, tab. sii. (1811, neo Vieill. 180T) ; Davnl
& Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 155 (1877) ; Tacz. Fanne Orn. Sibir. Orient, i. p. 289 (1891). ^
Turdus eunomus, Temm. PI. Col. ii. pi. 514 (1831) ; Sbejneger, Pi. U.S. Nat. Mus. xv. p. o
(1892); id. Res. Orn. Expl. Kamtsch. pp. 307, 325 (1885).
Turdus naumanni (nee Temm.), Gould, B. Eur. ii. pi. lxxix. (1837).
Cickloselys fuscatus, Bp. Cat. Parzud. p. 5 (1856).
Turdus dubius, Bechst.; Jaub. & Barth.-Lapomm. Rich. Orn. p. 213 (1859, pt.); Dresser, B.
Eur. ii. p. 63, pi. vii. (1877) ; Finsch, Verb. z.-b. Ges. Wien, 1879, p. 71.
JPlanesticus fuscatus, Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 530 (1862).
Turdus ruficollis (nec Pall.), Finsch, Ibis, 1877, p. 65 (teste Finsch, 1879).
Merula fuscata, Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 262 (1881).
M. rostro et pedibus nigricanti-brunneis : alis prsecipue rufis: caudà saturate brunneà: gutture et supercilio
pallide cervinis : pectore et corporis lateribus nigro cordatim maculatis.
T his species is chiefly recognizable b y its ru fo u s wings, an d especially by th e ru fo u s ax illa rie s an d
u n d e r wing-coverts. T h e ta il is d a rk brown, th u s d is tin g u ish in g i t from M. naumanni, w ith which
i t h a s sometimes b e e n confounded, w h ile th e b la ck sp o ts o n th e c h e s t a n d sides o f th e h ody a re also
ch a ra cte ristic .
Dr. Taczanowski has given the following history of the species in Siberia (Faun. Orn. Sibir.
Orient, i. p. 293) “ Middendorff has found this Ouzel during the most severe winters on the Yenesei
in 59° N. lat. : on the 10th of February he has seen many bands of these birds, consisting of
from 30 to 40 individuals, to the south of Yeneseisk; and on the 21st of February he succeeded in
killing several examples near the station of Savina, situated about 130 kilometres from Yeneseisk,
the birds were driven by the cold, in troops of six or seven individuals, to seek shelter in the houses
and under the roofs of the station-building.”
None of the Russian travellers have found this Thrush at the same season of the year in the
eastern districts of Siberia. Dybowski and Godlewski have observed the species on Laké Baikal, in
Dauria, in the Ussuri country, and on the coasts of the Sea of Japan, and the last-named traveller
writes :—“ During the spring migration it is very common everywhere, arriving in the first half of
May and keeping in troops often mixed with other Thrushes. Being less timorous than its congeners,
it loves the open prairies, or those more or less covered with bushes, the edges of the forests,
especially those situated on the southern slopes of the mountains. On fine days the birds perch in
large numbers on the trees and bushes and sing, making a great hubbub consisting of a mixture of
the different notes of all the species in the assemblage. We have not found this Ouzel breeding in
any locality visited by us, and the eggs which were given to us were sent from Oussolje on the
Angora. In autumn the species is very rare and appears in the early part of October, though we
have killed a sp ecimen on the 23rd of this month.” Yon Schrenk gives the following n o te .
VQL; B ^ H