70 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS, 
feeding habits, with no possibility of undue increase, 
would be a welcome guest in many countries. For such 
a purpose, however, special arrangements should, if 
possible, be made for the procuring of wild-caught birds. 
Tue Common InpIAN Rosin (Thamnobia cambaiensis), 
though not so universally distributed as the Dhayal, is still 
a common bird in India Proper, though it does not extend 
to Burma, or go very high up the hills. In form it much 
resembles the Dhayal, but is a smaller bird, being less 
than seven inches long. In colour it is a very glossy 
black, but the upper part of the head and the back 
are sandy brown; there is a white patch on the wings, 
and a chestnut one under the tail. In Southern India 
and Ceylon the Robins are black above as well as below, 
and are classed as a distinct species (Thamnobia fulicata). 
The hen is sandy brown all over, darker on the wings and 
tail, with the characteristic chestnut patch under the 
latter. The young are somewhat like the hen, but more or 
less marked with cinnamon, especially in the southern 
variety or species. 
In their generaljhabits, nesting and the colour of their 
eggs these birds much resemble the Dhayal ; like that bird 
and the Shama, they have the trick of frequently jerking 
up their tail till it is: quite perpendicular. The smaller 
members of the Thrush family, indeed, always exhibit a 
great deal of tail-action in some form or another. These 
Robins are familiarfgarden-birds, but they are not great 
songsters, and are seldom, if ever, caged. Beside the 
showy Dhayal indeed, they seem rather common-place, 
though nice little, birds in their way. 
