JAY-THRUSHES. 



47 



or five in number, but on several occasions I have fouml 

 as few as two well-sel eggs." 



The author observes: — "Numerous nests of this 

 species have been sent me, taken in Mav, June, and 

 July, at elevations of from 2,000 to fully 4"000 feet, and 

 in one case it is said 5.000. They are all very similar, 

 large, very shallow cups, from 6 to nearly 8 inches in 

 external diameter, anJ from 2.5 to 3.5 in height ; ex- 

 teriorly all are com]x>sed of coarse grass, of bamboo- 

 spathes, with occasionally a few dead leaves inter- 

 mingled, loosely wound round with creepers or pliant 

 twigs, while interiorly they are composed and lined 

 with black, only moilerutcly fine roots or pliant flower- 

 stems of some Howerins-tree, or both. Sometimes the 

 exterior coating of grass is not very coarse; at other 

 times bamboo-spathes exclusively are used, and the nest 

 seems to be completely packed up in these." 



According to Russ, this species is rare in the trade ; 

 it reiicbed the Zoological Gardens of London and 

 Amsterdaiii in 1876 ; soon afterwards Messr.«. E. Linden 

 and K. von Schlechtendal secured specimens. The 

 former gentleman observes : — " I received this bird from 

 Jamrach of London as a Crested Pekoe, with the in- 

 formation that it was a good singer. Now, if one does 

 not take the matter of song literally, but .accepts in its 

 place ,an unsatisfactory vocal organ, that assertion is 

 justifiable. Its perpetual restlessness and constant 

 movement is, as it were, accompanied by a subdued 

 murmuring, somewhat as in the case of a person who 

 has a hibit of humming .■something to himself. The loud 

 tones most nearly resemble a quickly jerked out laugh, 

 and this passes into a loud rattle." In nine cases out 

 of ten, if ,a dealer goes out of his way to praise the song 

 of a bird in order to dispose of it to a customer one 

 may expect to be disappointed. 



White-throated Jat-Thrush {Garrvlar albngularis). 

 L^pperside olivaceous-brown ; forehead yellowish- 

 brown ; lores and a streak below the eye black ; fliglits 

 darker brown with oaler inner margins ; tail-feathers 

 greenish-brown, with black-brown bands and broid 

 white margins; the two central ones uniformly 

 greenish-brown ; angle of lower mandible and threat 

 white; upper breast dull greenish-brown; remainder of 

 under surface yellowish rust-coloured ; the sides ani 

 under tail-coverts deeper in colour; bill black-brown; 

 feet horn-grey; irides bluish-grey. The female only 

 differs as usual. Hab., Himalayas generally from 

 Bootan to Simla ; more common in the North-west than 

 ;n the E.ast. " It prefers rather high elevations, from 

 5.000 to 9,000 feet and upwards ; lives in large flocks, 

 feeding mostly on the ground, among bamboos and 

 brushwood, and every now and then screaming and 

 chattering, but not so loudly or discordantly as some of 

 the others. Hutton. who says that it is very common 

 at Mussooree, found the nest ' about seven or'eight feet 

 from the ground, of woody tendrils, twigs, fibres, or at 

 times of grass and leaves, and with three beautiful shin- 

 ing green eggs.' It is not very common at Darjeeling, 

 and is not found below 6,000 or 7,000 feet." — Jerdon, 

 'Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 39. 



In Oates's edition of Hume's " Nests and Eggs of 

 Indian Birds" we read :— "The Whit-e-throated Laugih- 

 mg-Thrush breeds throughout the lower southern ranges 

 of the Himalayas from Assam to Afghanistan at eleva- 

 tions of from 4,000 to 8,000 feet. Thev lay from the com- 

 mencement of April to the end of June. The nest 

 varies in shape from a moderat«lv deep cup to a broad 

 shallow saucer, and from 5 to 7 or even 8 inches in 

 extern.al diamet^er, and from less than 2 to nearly 4 

 inches in depth internally. Coarse grass, flags, creepers. 



dead leaves, moss, moss- and grass-roots, all at times 

 enter more or less largely into the composition of the 

 nest, which, though sometimes wholly unlined, is often 

 neatly cushioned with red .and black fern and moss- 

 roots. The nests are placed in small bushes, shrubs, or 

 treea, at heights of from 3 to 10 feet, sometimes in 

 forks, but more often, I think, on low horizontal 

 branches, between two or three upright shoots. "There 

 is, I think, the regular complement of eggs, and this is 

 the number I have always found when the eggs were 

 much incubated. I have not myself observed that this 

 species breeds in comjxiny, nor can I ever remember to 

 have taken two nests within 100 yards of each other." 



Dr. Russ says that "although this is one of the birds 

 most rarely brought to ^;urope, it occasionally reaches 

 Zoological Oiirdens. In the year 1876 it was alreadv in 

 the London Hardens, and at the present time the Zoo- 

 logical (iardens of Berlin posse.ss it." — " Fremdlan- 

 dischen Stubenvogel," Vol. II., p. 232. 



Bl.\ck-gokgeted Jat-Thrush (Garrulax pectoralis). 



Above pale olivaceous-brown, washed with rust- 

 reddish on back and rump ; nape and hind neck bright 

 rust-reddish ; flights with ashy margins ; lateral tail- 

 feathers banded with black and white ; a n:irrow white 

 eyebrow stripe ; lores, cheeks and ear-coverts greyish 

 or white (sometimes black) enclosed by two narrow 

 black lines from base of bill, which unite behind into 

 a broad band on the sides of the neck and expand into 

 a gorget on the upper breast ; chin white ; neck, throat, 

 breast, and sides of abdomen usually pale fulvous or 

 bright rust-coloured; middle of lower abdomen, and 

 sometimes the throat and breast white : bill bluish horn- 

 colonred ; feet greenish lead-coloured ; irides brown, 

 oibitjl skin dull leaden. Jerdon observes that "this 

 species varies a good deal (according to the locality) in 

 the markings on the ear-coverts, which in some" are 

 bhck, in others white mixed with black, and in some 

 the pectoral band is obsolete. Specimens from the 

 Himalayas have usually the ears silver-grey, whilst 

 those from Arrakan have them black and grey in every 

 gridation. It is found in the Himalayas, "extending 

 through Assam into Burmah." — " Birds of India " VoF 

 II., p. 40 (cf. Thp Ibis, 1903, p. 587). 



In Hume's "Nests and Eags of Indian Birds." 2tid 

 ed., pp. 45, 50. we read:— "IMr. Oates tell us that he 

 ' found the nest of the Black-gorgeted Laughing-Thrush 

 in the Pegu Hills, on the 27th April, containing three 

 fresh eggs ; the bird was sitting. The nest was placed 

 in a bamboo-clump about 7ft. from the ground, made 

 outwardly of dead bamboo-leaves and coarse roots lined 

 with finer roots and a few feathers; inside diameter 6in., 

 depth 2in. Two eggs measured 1.04 by 0.83 and 0.86* 

 Colour, a beautiful clear blue.'* 



" A nest sent me from Sikhim, where it was found 

 in July, contained much larger eggs, and more in pro- 

 portion to the size of the bird. The nest I refer to was 

 placed in a clump of bamboos about 5ft. from the 

 ground. It was a tolerably compact, moderately deep 

 saucer-shaped nest, between 6 and 7 inches in diameter' 

 composed of dead bamboo-sheaths and leaves bound to- 

 eether with creepers and herbaceous stems, and thinlv 

 lined with roots. It contained two eggs. These ara 

 rather broad ovals, somewhat pointed tow'ards one end • 

 of a uniform pale greenish blue, and are fairlv glossv' 

 These egsis measured 1.33 and 1.30 in length, 'and 98 

 in breadth." 



Dr. Russ says that tliis Ls one of the very rarest birds 



..•"..^^'■•i^T'^,'.'^;"''^ ?"* "^ "'^ ""^ "■""'«'■ sni.ill for the size of the 

 bird, and Mr. (Jates observes :— " I fear I niav liivemnaL .„,?.. i 

 in identi.'ying the nest referred to." ^ "'"'^ * mistake 



