1664 



THE PERCHING BIRDS 



region; the finest songster among them being the white-browed warbler {Copsychus 

 albospecularis) of Madagascar, the notes of which rival those of the sweetest Euro- 

 pean birds. The common dhyal bird (C. saularis} of India, represented in the 

 cut, occurs in every part of the empire. It is resident in Ceylon and Southern 

 China, but is replaced by C. mindanensis in the Philippines. The Indian species 

 is a common and familiar bird throughout its range, exhibiting a confiding and 

 friendly disposition like the European redbreast. The cocks are highly pugnacious 

 in the breeding season, and engage in frequent scrimmages with their rivals. The 

 nest is a rough structure, built in a hole of a tree, in an old stump, or in the crevice 

 of a wall. The nesting holes of the barbets and woodpeckers are often utilized by 

 the dhyal bird. The male has a pleasing song, not unlike that of the redbreast, 

 but of greater compass. This species is often kept as a cage bird, and has been 

 trained to turn somersaults at a gesture from its owner. The adult male has the 

 head, neck, breast, and upper parts glossy black; the wings and tail are black, 



varied with white, and 

 the abdomen and under 

 tail coverts white. The 

 female has the upper 

 parts of a uniform dark 

 brown glossed with 

 bluish; the throat and 

 breast are dark gray, 

 and the wings and tail 

 dark brown varied with 

 white. 



The sha- 

 mas {Citto- 



cinda} are closely related 

 in structure to the last, 

 from which they are 

 distinguished by the pro- 

 portionately greater size 

 of the tail, which con- 

 siderably exceeds the 

 wing in length. The 

 shamas are shy and re- 

 tiring birds, avoiding 

 the neighborhood of 

 houses, and obtaining 

 their food in the woods 



and jungle. The black shama (C. nigra} inhabiting the Malayan region, is a 

 skulking species, haunting the dense cover near to the coast. One has been recently 

 discovered in the Philippines (C. cebuensis); while the Andaman shama (C. albi- 

 ventris) is peculiar to the islands from which it takes its name. The best known is 

 the Indian shama (C. macrura), a permanent resident in the plains of India, and 



Shamas 



MALACCA DHYAL BIRD. 



