198 SAXICOLIN E. 
THE SHAMA. 
Shama, Hin. 
Lenoth, 12; wing, 3°75; tail, 7-9; tarsus, 1; bill at front, 0°75. 
Head, neck, back, wing-coverts, breast, and tail, glossy-black ; 
rump white ; wings dull-black, outer tail-feathers broadly tipped 
with white ; breast, belly, and under tail-coverts deep chesnut. 
The female has the colors Jess pure and duller than the male. 
This splendid songster is only found within our limits on the 
Sahyadri Range, and in the adjoining forests as far north as 
Khandalla. It is a permanent resident. 
Genus, Thamnobia, Swainson. 
Bill slender, very slightly widened at the base; the sides 
compressed, slightly arched throughout ; tip deflected, not notched ; 
gape smooth ; wings short, rounded, the fourth and fifth quills long- 
est ; the primaries hardly exceeding the tertiaries and secondaries, 
which are broad; tail moderate, broad, much rounded ; tarsus long ; 
the feet moderate ; inner-toe much shorter than the outer; hind- 
toe short; all the claws slightly curved. 
Thamnobia fulicata, Zinn. 
479.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 121; Butler, Deccan » 
Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 404. 
Tue InpraAn BLAck Rosin. 
Length, 6 ; wing, 3; tail, 2°75 ; tarsus, 1°1 ; bill at front, 0°5. 
Bill black ; irides dark brown ; legs blackish. 
Male, shining deep black, with a white wing-patch; the 
middle of the abdomen and the under tail-coverts deep chesnut. 
Female dull sooty-brown, darker on the wings and tail; the 
under tail-coverts chesnut. 
The Indian Black Robin is very common in the Deccan, where 
it is a permanent resident, breeding during April, May and 
June. The nest, usually a mere pad, is composed of grass roots, 
vegetable fibre, hair and such like substances. It is generally 
found in a hole in a wall or tree. The eggs, three in number, 
are greenish-white in color, spotted and speckled with yellowish- 
white. They average 0°72 inches in length by about 0°55 in 
breadth. 
Thamnobia cambaiensis, Lath. 
430.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 122; Butler, Guzerat > 
Stray Feathers, Vol. III, p. 474; Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology 
of Sind, p. 188; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, p. 124. 
THE BROWN-BACKED INDIAN Rosin. 
Kalchuri, Hin. 
Length, 6; wing, 2°9; tail, 2°75 ; tarsus, 1; bill at front, 0°5. 
Bill black ; irides deep-brown ; legs blackish. 
The male has the back, wings, and upper tail-coverts dusky 
