Birds of the Indian Hills 



near relative of the English blackbird. Take 

 a cock blackbird and paint his wings dark 

 grey, and cover his bill with red colouring 

 matter, and you will have to all appearances 

 a grey-winged ouzel. In order to effect the 

 transformation of the brown female, it is only 

 necessary to redden her bill. 



The nesting operations of this species are 

 described on page 160. 



Two other species allied to the grey-winged 

 ouzel demand our attention. The first is the 

 blue-headed rock-thrush (Petrophila cinclo- 

 rhyncha). This is not like any bird found in 

 England. The head, chin, and throat of the 

 cock are cobalt blue ; there is also a patch of 

 this colour on his wing ; the sides of the head 

 and neck are black, as are the back and wing 

 feathers. The rump and lower parts are 

 chestnut. The hen, as is the case with many 

 of her sex, is an inconspicuous olive-brown 

 bird. This species spends most of its time on 

 the ground, and frequents, as its name implies, 

 open rocky ground. 



The last of the Turdidae which has to be 



considered is the small- billed mountain-thrush 



(Oreocincla dauma). This bird is as like the 



thrush of our English gardens as one pea is 



70 



