FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



" it is not ^infrequently seen singly, more especially in 

 the vicinity of wooden bungalows. At Thayetmayo 

 one occasionally came into my compound for a day or 

 so, and then suddenly disappeared for a month or two. 

 It will flit into the verandah, sit on the post-plate, aiid 

 remain for a few minutes in perfect silence." Mr. 

 Elliot likewise noticed that it was very tame, often 

 coming into houses, and hopping ahout the verandah. 

 It is usually a solitary bird, and feeds entirely on the 

 ground on ants, Coleoptera, and various insects. Its 

 song is said to be very sweet, and is commenced in 

 India for some time before it leaves the country, not 

 when feeding, but when it happens to have taken 

 shelter during the heat of the day. It is caught in the 

 Deccan and on the Bombay coast by the natives, and 

 is much prized as a songster, being called by them the 

 tihdma, which name, however, really applies to the 

 Long-tailed Robin (Cittocincla macrura). Col. Irby, 

 who publishes some interesting notes on its habits in 

 the " Birds of Gibraltar," writes that it frequents daily 

 the same spots, attracting considerable notice, both 

 from its agreeable song and conspicuous habits. He 

 further remarks : " The Blue Thrush very often perches 

 on trees, and at Gibraltar and Tangier is frequently 

 seen on the housetops, though generally observed on 

 bare, rocky ground. It is sometimes found in wooded 

 parts, if there are any high rocks ; for instance, a pair 

 nest at the first waterfall of Algeciras, which is in the 

 midst of a dense forest. It has a habit in the courting 

 season of flying straight out from a rock, and then 

 suddenly dropping wkh the wings half shut, like a 

 Wood Pigeon in the nesting time. The Blue Thrush 

 is very fond of ivy berries and all fruit." 



Lord Lilford writes : " It is very omnivorous ; 

 literally fish, flesh, fowl and fruit I have seen it devour 

 with apparently equal gusto, to say nothing of almost 

 any insect." (" Birds of Ceylon," Vol. II., p. 462.) 

 Whitaker observes : " The J'axw'ro solitario, as this bird 

 is called in Italy, is greatly prized in that and other 

 Mediterranean countries, not only on account of its 

 agreeable song, but also because of its bright and attrac- 

 tive ways, for though rather shy in its natural state if. 

 is capable of becoming remarkably tame in confinement, 

 particularly when brought up from the nest. At the 

 present time I have one which is a delightful pet. 



" The song of the Blue Rock-Thrush is composed of 

 sweet, flute-like notes, resembling some of those of the 

 common Thrush, although not quite equal to them. 

 The bird is also a good mimic, and has a facility for 

 acquiring the notes of other birds. 



" The nest of this species, which is generally to be 

 found in a fissure or cleft between rocks, or in the hole 

 of a wall, is composed chiefly of root fibres loosely put 

 together. The eggs, usually five in number, are of a 

 beautiful glossy greenish-blue, and in the case of all 

 those in my collection are without any spots. Average 

 measurements, 25mm. by 19mm. ("Birds of Tunisia," 

 Vol. II., p. 20.) 



Whistling Thrushes (Myioplioneus). 



According to Russ, these birds should be fed like 

 other Thrushes, not forgetting the item of fruit. 

 Although he only knows of one species as having been 

 imported, he describes three. 



HOKSFIELD'S WHISTLING THRUSH (Myio])honeus 

 horsfieldi). 



Male Above and below, indigo-black; a frontal 

 band not extending to base of bill, and shoulders, bright 

 cobalt blue ; some of the feathers on the under surface 

 edged with the same colour ; bill black : eyes dark 

 brown ; feet brownish blue. Female undescribed as 



distinct, but (judging by description of Bligh's 

 Whistling Thrush) the blue shoulder patch should be 

 paler and more conspicuous. Doubtless the form of the 

 bill also differs. Habitat, forests of Southern and Western 

 India. " It especially delights in mountain torrents, and 

 if there is a waterfall it is sure to be found there. It 

 feeds on various insects, earthworms, slugs, shells, and 

 also on small crabs, which I have very frequently 

 found constituting its chief food ; and ithe remains of 

 legs, etc., of these Crustacea are generally found on the 

 ro;.'ks at, the edge of every pool of water frequented by 

 it. I once procured its nest, placed under a shelf of a 

 rock on the Burliar stream, on the slope of the Neil- 

 gberries. It was a large structure of roots, mi:\ed with 

 earth, moss, etc., and contained three eggs of a pale 

 salmon or reddish-fawn colour, with many smallish 

 broiwn spots. I kept a bird, which I had wounded 

 slightly, for some weeks, feeding it on earthworms and 

 snails, and every morning before sunrise I would hear 

 ity fine whistle. Its song consists of four or five beauti- 

 fully clear whistling notes, so like the whistle of a 

 man or boy as to be constantly mistaken for it, and it 

 is known to many on the Neilgherries as the Whistling 

 Thrush. It would be a. highly desirable and interest- 

 ing cage-bird." Jerdon, "Birds of India," Vol. I., 

 page 499. 



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

 Indian Birds " are many accounts, from which I select 

 the following : 



"Mr. W. Davison says, 'The Malabar Whistling 

 Thrush (rather a misnomer, by the way) breeds on the 

 slopes of the Nilghiris, never ascending higher than 

 6,000ft. The neist is always placed on some rock in 

 a mountain torrent; it is a coarse and, for the size of 

 the bird, a very large structure, and though I have 

 never measured the nest I should say that the total 

 height was about 18in. or more, and the greatest 

 diameter about 18in. Exteriorly it is composed of 

 roots, dead leaves, and decaying vegetation of all kinds ; 

 the egg cavity, which is saucer-shaped and compara- 

 tively shallow, is coarsely lined with roots. It breeds 

 during March and April.' " 



The statement that the nest is always placed on a 

 rock in a mountain torrent is disproved by Miss Cock- 

 burn, who took eggs from nests built high up in holes 

 in trees both in March and July; while Mr. J. Darling, 

 jun., remarks that "this species commonly builds in 

 holes in trees." He says: "July 22. Nest found near 

 Kythery, S. Wynaad, in a crevice of a log of a felled 

 tree in a new clearing lift, from the ground. Nest 

 built entirely of roots. The foundation was of roots 

 from some swampy ground, and had a good deal of mud 

 about it. Another nest was in a hole of a dead tree 

 32ft. from the ground." 



Mr. Frank Bourdillon writes from Travancore : 

 " Very common from the base to near the summit of the 

 hills, frequenting alike jungle and open clearings, 

 though generally found in the neighbourhood of some 

 running stream. I have known this species to build on 

 ledges of rock and in a hollow tree overhanging a stream, 

 in either case constructing a rather loosely put together 

 nest of roots and coarse fibre with a little green moss 

 intermixed. The female lays two to four eggs, and both 

 birds assist in the incubation. 



"The eggs of this species .... are broad, nearly 

 regular ovals, slightly compressed towards the lesser end. 

 considerably elongated, and more or less spherical, and 

 pyriform varieties occur. The shell is fine, and has a 

 slight gloss; the ground-colour is pale salmon-pink or 

 pinkish white, occasionally greyish white. The whole 

 egg is, as a rule, finely speckled, spotted, and splashed 

 with pinkish brown or brownish pink. The markings in 



