THE SHAMA O 



a permanent resident of the hill-ranges of 

 the West as far north as Khandalla in tlie 

 Sahyadri. Its range extends beyond the 

 Palk Straits into Ceylon, where it is very 

 abundant. In the eastern parts of the 

 Deccan, it is seen in Malabar. It is abso- 

 lutely a stranger in the provinces west of 

 the Ganges, and in Rajputana. It is widely 

 and abundantly found all over Burma. 



It is invariably a resident bird in the 

 localities to which its range is confined, but 

 in the hill-tracts of Cachar, it has been ob- 

 served to be a winter visitant. It seldom 

 ascends the hills to any great 



heio^ht, nor is it ever seen in culti- 



Notes ^ 



vated tracts, however well- wooded. 

 The hills and forests, the jungles around 

 streams, and woods in valleys and dales 

 which the bird frequents are hardly con- 

 sidered by it as its safest retreats ; and so, 

 by way of further precaution, this wary 

 bird betakes itself to the most impervious 

 thickets, underwood, and clumpy bushes, 

 where it is able to escape the most searching 



