60 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



they hold a sort of consultation, hopping and chattering about all 

 the time, till, after a few minutes, they move up to another tree, 

 and so on for the greater part of the day, rarely staying for more 

 than half an hour in the same place : they feed on insects." 



I may add to this that this bird becomes more rare to the 

 eastwards, and I did not observe it at Cachar. 



433. Malacocircus griseus, Gmelin. 



Turdus, apud Gmelin — Blyth, Cat. 792 — Horsf., Cat. 319 — • 

 Timaha, apud Jerdon, Cat. 92— Jerdon, 111. Ind. Orn., pL 19— 

 M. affinis, Jerd. — Khyr, H. — Chinda or Sida, Tel. — Kalli-kuravi, 

 Tam., i. e., Hedge-bird — Fouille-merde of the French in India 

 (Vieillot) — Dirt-bird popularly in the South of India. 



The White-headed Babbler. 



JJescr. — Head, lores, and nape, fulvescent or dirty whitish ; 

 plumage above darker brown than in the last, the feathers with 

 pale shafts ; quills not barred ; tail brown, very faintly barred, and 

 the outer feathers tipped pale ; beneath, the chin and throat are 

 mixed brown and ashy, conspicuously darker than the neighbouring 

 parts, each feather being ashy at the base, and with a dark band, 

 tipped paler ; as the pale tip gets worn away, the dark tinge 

 becomes more apparent ; from the breast the rest of the lower 

 parts are pale fulvescent, inclining to rufescent. 



Bill yellowish ; irides yellowish white ; legs fleshy yellow. Length 

 9 inches ; wing 4 ; tail 4 ; bill at front {-^ ; tarsus 1^. 



The chief distinguishing marks of this species are the whitish 

 head, and the dark throat, both of which contrast strongly with 

 the neighbouring parts. It is found throughout the whole Carnatic, 

 extending northwards into the Northern Circars, and westwards into 

 the neighbouring portion of the table land, to a greater or less 

 distance. Either this, or a very, closely allied race {M. affinis of 

 my Illustrations of Indian Ornithology, text to plate 19) is found 

 in the south of Malabar. 



It is extremely common and abundant In the Carnatic, and Is to 

 be found in every hedge, avenue, and garden. Like the others of 

 its genus it always associates in families of six, seven, eight, or 



