Lieut. Burgess on the Habits of Indian Birds. 371 



^« 5. S. E. Himalaya ; Nepal. (No. 671, Hodgson's Catalogue.*) 



" Colour olive-grey above, tinged with green ; beneath white, 

 tinged on the flanks with ashy, and showing some yellow along the 

 middle of the abdomen ; a broad yellowish-white supercilium, and 

 over this a black one ; the coronal feathers margined with black, and 

 the cheeks mingled black and white ; orbital feathers subdued white ; 

 wings and tail without markings, the tertiaries edged with grey, and 

 the secondaries with very faint dull yellowish. Bill yellowish-horny 

 above, paler beneath, legs yellowish." 



" Length 4 J inches ; of wing 2|; tail 1|; bill to gape nearly fths ; 

 and tarse f of an inch." 



Allied in form and size to L. castaniceps. 



Notes on the Habits of Indian Birds. Part IV. 

 By Lieut. Burgess. 



Family Sylviad^e. 



Genus Thamnobia. t ot ihd ^m^i^A^l 



Thamnobia fulicata. Indian Robin. 



This bird is well known in the Deccan, and is found not only about 

 villages, walls and outhouses, but is also common on low stony hills. 

 Dr. Jerdon says that " its familiar habits have gained for it its name 

 of Indian Robin." It breeds during the months of March, April 

 and May, building its nests in holes of walls and rocks, as also 

 in hollows under tussocks of grass. I subjoin some notes on the 

 subject : — '* May 9, 1850. "When passing outside the wall of a town, 

 an Indian Robin flew ofP the wall and hovered before me, uttering a 

 sharp hissing cry. Knowing by her manner that she had a nest near, 

 I searched in the wall and found the nest, composed of rotten grass 

 and straw, and some threads of woollen cloth ; the nest contained 

 three young ones, quite unfledged ; their skin was of a black-lead 

 colour." — "March 19, 1851. Found in a hole in the rocks the nest 

 of the Indian Robin, containing two eggs." — "March 27, 1851. 

 Found the nest of the Robin, containing two eggs, built at the foot 

 of a little tuft of grass, in a hole amongst the roots." 



The egg of this bird is of a very pale dusky blue spotted all over 

 with light brown, and a few purplish spots here and there ; length 

 rather more than y^^hs of an inch, by ^ths in width. 



Dr. Jerdon says : " I have twice seen the nest of this bird ; once, 

 built among a heap of large stones raised from a boury, and the bird 

 made its nest during the time the well was being blasted, and con- 

 tinued the process of incubation till the young ones were hatched, 

 when it was accidentally destroyed. On the other occasion it had 

 built its nest in a hole inside the wall of a house. It has four 

 eggs, light dusky bluish colour, spotted with purplish brown." 



* No. 887 of Mr. Hodgson's Catalogue was attached to this bird, which number 

 was previously used for Loxia Jiimalayana ; the above number being unoccupied, 

 it is retained for the present species. 



25* 



