K a i f c . r t imp.
[R K e u le o ia n s l i t h .
MEE.UIA BICOL.OB.,
MERULA BICOLOR, Layard.
KANDAVU OUZEL.
Merula bicolor, Layard, Ibis, 1876, pp. 158, 392 ; Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 256
(1881).
Merula ruficeps, E. P. Ramsay, Pr. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. i. p. 43 (1876); Seebohm, P. Z. S.
1890, p. 668 ; Wiglesw. Aves Polyn. p. 38 (1891).
Turdus bicolor, Layard, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 492, 505.
M. rostro et pedibus flavis : n ig ra : pileo cum collo, gutture et prsepectore lset£ cinnamomeis.
Op all the Ouzels of Oceania this is perhaps the most distinct. I t has the light head and neck
of the Oceanic species of Merula, but these are rufous, contrasting with the black plumage, so as to
render the species easily recognizable.
In the ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’ Mr. Seebohm has recognized Mr. Layard’s specific name of bicolor
for this species, but afterwards, in 1890, he called it Merula rujiceps of Ramsay, and in this he is
followed by Mr. Wiglesworth. He was, however, apparently led to the conclusion that Layard s
name deserved the priority, for I find that he had lettered the Plate for the present work Merula
bicolor. There can, I think, be no doubt that this view is the correct one, confirmed as it is by the
following note of Mr. Layard’s in the ‘ Ibis ’ for 1881, p. 171. Referring to an error in the identification
of a specimen of Pachycephala from Kandavu which had been obtained by his “ old servant
Pierce,” Mr. Layard continues:—“ The same sort of error seems to have occurred in the Merula
from the same locality, which I pointed out and labelled as M. bicolor, Layard, having expressly
sent Pierce to Kandavu to procure it fo r Mr. Pamsay, but which the latter, ignoring my label and
information, has renamed M. rujiceps (Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, i. p. 43). In the same paper
Vitia rvfcapilla, Ramsay, is described. This I also labelled as having been sent home to Pr. Finsch,
who was then describing it in Europe under the name of Prymochera badiceps.”
Nests of this species are in the Hamburg Museum and are described by Mr. A. Nehrkorn as
follows (J. f. O. 1879, p. 405):—“ The material of the nest is of fibrous roots and dry leaves,
especially in the cup, which is lined with them. One nest contained lancet-shaped fem-leaves of a
kind which had the spores on the under surface. The measurements were: height 85 mm. ; depth
of cup 40 ; entire breadth 155 ; breadth of cup 90 mm. Another was placed on the base of a fern-
tuft, and was made of moss, roots, and plant-stems, with out any exterior decoration: height 130 mm.;
depth of cup 40; entire breadth 133; breadth of cup 80 mm. The eggs are very like those of
T. vitiensis, and measure 27 X 21 mm.”
Adult male. General colour above black, including the wings and ta il; crown of head and hind-
neck, sides of face, throat, and chest pale cinnamon-rufous; remainder of under surface from the
chest downwards black; thighs brown ; under tail-coverts black; under wing-coverts and axillaries
brown: “ bill and feet yellow” (E. L. Layard). Total length 6'8 inches, culmen 0*85, wing 4-1,
tail 2*65, tarsus 125.
The specimen described and figured is the type in the Seebohm Collection. [R. B. S.]