BIRD NOTES FROM MURREE. 151 



The trivial name of this species does not seem to me sufficiently desciiptive. 

 Although some of its feathers aro edged with grey or white it is undoubtedly a 

 'Blackbird." "The Grrey-winged Blackbird" would therefore seem a more 

 appropriate name. 



(578. Merula vnicolor (Tickell's Ouzel).— The nest of " Tickell's Ouzel " 

 which is generally placed in the fork of a tree, often low down, is a very neat 

 s' ructui-e of moss held together by an inner coating of mud and lined with horse- 

 hair and maiden-hair fern stems. The song is something as follows : — 

 " Chellya, chellya, chirrali " — " cherlya, cherlya, chellya " — " chellya, chellya. 

 juliu." At times the "chellya" note sounds very like "julia." The " juk 

 juk " alarm note, common to the genus, is constantly used by this thrush when 

 hunting for food. 



()9('. Petrophila erijthrogastra (The Chestnut- bellied Rock-Thrush). — The 

 song of ■• The Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush " bears some resemblance to that 

 of " The Blue-headed Rock Thrush " (P. cinclorhyncha) and may be rendered 

 as follows : — " Teetatewleedee-tweet tew " repeated several times and sometimes 

 more varied as Teetjitewleedee-tatewli-tatewyatweeya." When the nest is 

 approached or when young fledglings are about, a harsh angry " churring " 

 note is vittered. I again noticed males hawking ard catching winged insects, 

 thus confirming my last year's observations as to this drcngo-like habit in this 

 species. Two solitary old males used to roost, regularly, in mj bungalow 

 at Murree, one in the gable of the roof, the other in a hole in the chimney. 

 This species was fairly common, above 7,000 feet, both in Murree and the Galis. 



698. Oreocincla dauma (The Small -billed Mountain-Thrush).— I met with 

 "The Small billed Mountain-Thrush " tAvo or three times in Murree as well as 

 in the Galis. 



74!. P i/cnorJ) ampus icte7-oides (The 'B\ac]i iiud Yellow Grosbeak). — A nest of 

 " The Black and Yellow Grosbeak " seen in Murree was built high up in a 

 medium sized Silver Fir and must have been almost entirely composed of bark 

 and fibre of '' The Black Poplar," as I watched a pair tearing off great beak- 

 f Ills of this stuff and flying to the nesting site with it. Another nest in Dunga 

 Gali was in a medium sized Yew tree near the top but in a most accessible 

 situation. The three egsrs which it contained were greenish white with, in the 

 case of two of the eggs, a zone of blackish brown spots and the scribbling 

 and flagellate markings, so common in the eggs of some of the Fmberizhio', round 

 the larger end. In the third Qgg this zone of markings was round the smaller 

 end. Captain Skinner who was with me secured this clutch. These Grosbeaks 

 were abundant around Dunga Gali and it was not uncommon to see parties of 

 them feeding on the roads. On the ground they progress in hops like the 

 majority of the " FrinffiWdce.'" A song note of a male heard this year was 

 " tratrui-tree." The note of both sexes when feeding is a " chuck " " chuck." 



744-. Muccrohaa 'mpJa7ioxanfh/>i,s (The Spotted-winged Grosbeak!— I was out 

 with Captain Skinner at Dunga Gali when his searchei-, who by the way was 

 Colonel Buchanan's man lent to him, showed us a nest of " The Spotted Winged 



