MERULA F LA Y IP E S [Fieill.).
BRAZILIAN GREY OTJZEL.
Turdus flavipes, Vieill. N. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. xx. p. 277 (1818)1
Turdus carbonarius, Licht. Yerz. Doubl. p. 37 (1823).
Merulafiawp.es., Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. y. p. 253 (1881).
M. schistacea: rostro et pedibus flavis : pileo nigro, minime dorso concolore: gutture et pectore summo nigris :
hypocbondriis et axillaribus subalaribusque schistaceis. ? suprk rufescenti-olivacea, abdomine quoque
pallide griseo : subcaudalibus oehrascenti-brunneis, albido marginatis et medialiter notatis.
T h e present species is a representative of the section of the genus Merula in which the general
colour is a beautiful slate-grey, with the head, throat, and upper breast black, in strong contrast to
the otherwise grey plumage. There seem to be three or four closely allied forms in this section,
depending chiefly on the differences shown in the plumage of the hen birds, for the males vary but
little. I t is impossible to speak with any certainty as to these different races; as the series of skins in
the British Museum has been mostly purchased from dealers, and very few specimens bear any particulars
of their capture. A further difficulty in arriving at a correct conclusion is caused by the fact that no
collectors have absolutely identified any one pair of birds as having been obtained together. I t is
therefore almost impossible to assign the females of some of these Grey Ouzels with absolute certainty.
M.fiavipes was first described by Vieillot from specimens obtained by Delalande near Bahia, and
from the same place came also the type of Lichtenstein’s Turdus carbonarius, which is therefore a
synonym of M.fiavipes. The British Museum contains a large series of specimens from Bahia, some
of them collected by Dr. Wucherer. Mr. Alexander Fry has presented to the same Institution five
specimens obtained by him at Rio de Janeiro, and in the Salvin-Godman Collection are examples
obtained by Joyner in Sao Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. Mr. H. Rogers also procured a specimen
in Santa Catarina. Count von Berlepsch records the species as having been obtained by Lund in
Minas Geraes and at Mugydas Cruzes in Sao Paulo (J. f. O. 1873, p. 230). Burmeister notes it
from Novo Freibourgo (Th. Bras. iii. p. 125), Prince Max from Rio de Janeiro and Cabo Frio (Beitr.
Naturg. Bras. iii. p. 643). Yon Pelzeln gives the following localities where the species was obtained
by Natterer, viz.:—Rio de Janeiro, May to August; Curytiba, November; Ytarare, April (Orn.
Bras. p. 94). Dr. von Ihering states that it is found from Rio Grande do Sul to Bahia, but chiefly
on the coast, as it is absent in the greater part of the interior (Rev. Mus. Paul. iii. p. 128).
M. fiavipes is therefore apparently confined to Eastern and South-eastern Brazil. The male is
distinguished by its grey breast and abdomen, and pure grey back, contrasting with the black head,
throat, and upper breast. The female of the Brazilian bird seems to have a more ruddy-olive shade
on the upper surface than is shown by the females from Venezuela and Guiana. The abdomen
is very light grey, and the under tail-coverts are ochraceous-brown, with whitish tips and centres
to the feathers.
Adult male. General colour above dark bluish slate-colour, with indistinct margins of dusky
blackish to the feathers of the back; scapulars also bluish slate-colour, but with broader black
M 2