156 DENTIKOSTKES. 



found perclied upon a tree, pouring forth a remark- 

 ably sweet song. Their nest is built in trees at no 

 great elevation ; it is composed of small twigs care- 

 lessly put together : the female usually deposits four 

 eggs. 



The Common Grey Babbler {Timalia grisea) is one of 

 the commonest l)irds of the Indian Peninsula, where it 

 may be seen in every garden, and about the hedge-row 

 avenues, trees, and topes * througliout the Carnatic. 



They may often be seen in flocks of six, eight, ten, or 

 more. They feed chiefly on the ground, to which they 

 may be seen to drop one after the other from the tree 

 they may have perched on, and hop briskly about, picking 

 up various seeds and insects, occasionally seekuig the 

 latter from heaps of manure. On being driven from the 

 ground, or leaving it from choice, they fly up successively 

 as they droj:)ped down, and hop and climb ujoon the large 

 branches of the nearest tree, seldom stopping till they 

 have nearly reached the top or the other side, from 

 which, if still watched, they fly off one after the other 

 to another tree. These birds have an incessant loud 

 whispering kind of chatter, which they all repeat at 

 once, especially when feeding, or on being observed by 

 any one. The nest of this species is placed in a tree 

 at no great height : it is made of small twigs and roots 

 carelessly put together. 



The type of this sub-family is the White-necked Bab- 

 bler {Po7natorhinus albicollis). 



* "The vast numbers of plantations made of mango-trees, espe- 

 cially throughout Bengal, afford ample range to their feathered 

 inhabitants. Some of these plantations, or ' topes,' are of such 

 extent, that an army of ten or twelve thousand men might encamp 

 under shelter. In the hot season, the shade is both pleasant and 

 salutary ; in the cold months, these woods afford shelter by keeping 

 off the bleak winds ; and during the rainy portion of the year, those 

 trees which have the thickest foliage throw the water off from 

 certain spots, and render them inhabitable." — ^ya'^lace, " Wild 

 Sx>orts of the TFesf." 



