M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 255 



steadily about in the tree without the restless or prying actions 

 which commonly belong to the insect-eating birds; but the 

 formation of the beak is sufficient to distinguish it from the 

 Sparrow-kind; the edges of the under mandible being rather 

 high, and towards the end very much bent in. In its stomach I 

 found small and hard beetles, and eggs of butterflies. The com- 

 mon decoy-note was a quickly repeated high and clear pipipi- 

 pipi ! or tuj tuj tuj . . . ! From the male I often heard a very 

 charming but soft singing which was greatly varied. The Ben- 

 galese name is unknown to me. 



22. Timalia grisea. — Turdus griseus, Gm., Lath. no. 91 = Merle 

 gris de Gingi, Sonn. Voy. (Hue etiam : Baniahbou de Bengale, Alb. 

 3. 8. pi. 9 (mala) = Merula bengalensis, Briss. 2. 260, Edw. t. 184 

 (colore nimis obscuro, pedibus debito minoribus et iride rubra) ; cit. 

 sub Turdo canoro Auct.*) 



Pallide grisea, subtus pallidior, leviter fulvescenti tincta ; macula 

 nuda pone oculos, rostro, pedibusque flavescenti-albis, remigibus 

 intus fuscis. 



Magnit. et statura Turdi, pedibus multo majoribus, alisque mino- 

 ribus 9^ poll., ala 102 mill., tarsus 35, cauda 100. Iris nivea. Plumae 

 lacerae, decomposite, rachides in dorso obtecte albidae ; pectus et 

 varise partes, certo luminis situ obsolete fusco-micante maculata. 

 Linea superciliaris nulla distincta. Vibrissa? minimae, subreflexse. 

 Rostri et pedum forma similis Graculce. Cauda valde rotundata, 

 transversim undato-micans. 



This kind is common near Calcutta, where in February and 

 March I saw them in families of five or six together hopping 

 about on the ground among small trees and bushes. When 

 startled they flew into the lower trees. Their flight is quick with 

 a noisy action of the wings, but it is feeble and never continued 

 for any length of time. Like the Thrush-kind they hide them- 

 selves very cleverly behind the branches and leaves. They never 

 remain quiet, and make a great disturbance with their chattering 

 noise, which is somewhat like that heard from young starlings. 

 From these sounds this species has received its Bengalese name 

 tshattaria (with the accent on the first syllable), which is not at 

 all a bad name for it. In Lath. ' Gen. History' (under Turdus 

 canorus) the name of Chatareea is mentioned, according to the ac- 

 count of Buchanan. I did not hear any song. Its food consists 

 of insects, small snails, grains of rice, &c, which I always found 

 in its stomach. In the beginning of February I got a young 



* Reliquse citationes T. canori referenda sunt ad T. sinensem, Briss. et 

 L. (L'Hoamis de la Chine, Buff.) sc. Turd, chinensis, Osb. It. 309. Corvus 

 faustus, Linn. Am. Ac. iv. Lan. faustus et Turd, canorus, Linn. S. N. x. 

 et xii. Sic T. canorus — T. sinensis, nobis, Timalia fausta, e div. Garrulax, 

 Lesson. 



