46 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



* i most entirely so, but the innermost golden brownish 

 changing to grey towards the tips ; all the outer tail- 

 feathers broadly banded with black towards the tips 

 which are grey internally, broadly white externally ; lores 

 sordid whitish ; a distinct pure white eyebrow streak, 

 below which a black streak runs above the ear-coverts 

 to the sides of neck, which are also black ; ear-coverts 

 ash}' white with blackish shaft-streaks, the outermost 

 iow black broadly tipped with white, forming an ill- 

 defined irregular bar ; moustachial streak black ; under- 

 jparts white, the feathers of throat and chest faintly 

 tipped with huffish ; a broad undulated black belt from 

 aides of neck across the chest, behind which the white 

 feathers are more deeply stained with huffish* ; sides 

 of body cinnamon ; under tail-coverts huffish ; under 

 sving-coverts white washed with pale cinnamon ; bill 

 with upper mandible blackish-horn ; lower mandible 

 slightly paler, more flesh-coloured changing to white 

 at base ; feet greyish horn-coloured ; iris bright chest- 

 nut. Female slightly smaller, and with a shorter and 

 more slender bill. Hab.. China. 



The late Consul Swinhoe, who originally described 

 and named this bird, tells us that he found in its 

 stomach smooth caterpillars, grasshoppers, seeds, and 

 the pulp of fig-like berries. 



Messrs. Rickett and La Touche (The Il/is, 1897, 

 pp. 504-5), say: "We found this species common at 

 Ching Feng Ling. The birds were always in p.irties, 

 frequenting underwood in all forests or detached 

 clumps of trees. 



" They appear to feed chiefly on the ground, and one 

 of us obtained a good view of some when thus engaged. 

 They were scattering the dead leaves about, and peck- 

 ing vigorously at the earth. The blows dealt at the 

 earth were extraordinarily powerful, the bird raising 

 itself to the full stretch of its legs and bringing its 

 beak down like a pickaxe, at the same time dropping 

 i.s wings down by its sides. 



"When disturbed they invariably took to the trees, 

 calling with clear and very melodious notes, and rapidly 

 disappeared from sight. Wounded birds uttered loud 

 harsh cries, and ran through the cover with great speed. 



" We obtained twenty-five specimens, and note a good 

 deal of variety in the colour of the ' necklace,' which 

 varies from pale ash to dark iron-grey and black, these 

 colours being often mixed and shading into one another. 



" Young birds are much smaller than the old ones. 

 They want the white streaks on the ear-coverts, and 

 the 'necklace,' where it crosses the chest, is narrow, 

 "blackish, and unbroken. Their irides are pale straw- 

 colour, while in the old birds it is usually crimson. "t 



In The Ibis for 1899, p. 180. Mr. La Touche says: 

 " Although we obtained breeding examples at Kuatun 

 during the last expedition, we failed to find the nest. 

 A large flock was met on the 20th March in a wood 

 close to the river in the Kienyang district, so that this 

 bird may be said to be an inland species occurring in 

 mountainous wooded country at all altitudes, probably 

 all over South-west Chekiang, Western Fohkien, and 

 N.E. Kwangtung." 



Dr. Russ spoke of this as "one of the very rarest 

 imported foreign birds living in our possession," but if 

 this is true as regards the German market it is not so 

 in England. 



The Zoological Society received its fi>st example from 

 the Paris Jardin d'Acclimatation in 1873, hut the Berlin 

 Gardens did not obtain one until twenty years later. I 



* In DIM i I d>. -scribed the underparts of tbis bird as "mostly 

 yellowish-brown," so that it would seem that this is a characteristic 

 of the young bird. 



t A slight exifrgeration if my bird was a normal specimen ; the 

 eye is a bright chestnut-red. 



purchased a specimen in 1900 (January 26th), and it 

 lived in my possession in perfect health, and, after it 

 had been transferred to a sufficiently large cage, in per- 

 fect plumage, until January 16th/ 1907, when it was 

 unaccountably taken ill and died two days later. It fed 

 well to the last. 



Although after a time this bird became wonderfully 

 tame, and would readily take insects from one's fingers, 

 it cannot be recommend'ed as a pet. Its song is a harsh 

 sort of chattering, and its note when it wants anything 

 or desires to be noticed is an incessant irritating plain- 

 tive whistle rapidly repeated ; when hungry it utters a 

 harsh note something like Wr-rl-.' repeated with a short 

 interval four or five times. It is, however, a strikingly 

 handsome bird, and when breaking up a mouse its 

 businesslike manner oi raising itself high on its legs 

 and digging at it with its powerful bill is amusing ; it 

 will eat any amount of cockroaches, swallowing even 

 the largest down whole after giving them a single dig 

 with its bill. 



Towards the end of its life I suppose my bird must 

 have become more contented, for his irritating whistle 

 became more and more rare, so that sometimes it was 

 not heard for months together. I remember Mr. Full- 

 James telling me that he was obliged to get rid of a 

 specimen which he once had because the neighbours 

 complained of the noise. They would if the bird was 

 anywhere where they could hear it. I hardly know 

 which is the more unbearable the miserable whistling 

 of a Collared Jay-Thrush, or the everlasting measured 

 Hoo, hoo, hoo (literally repeated hundreds of times) of 

 a male Wonga-Wonga Pigeon. 



WHITE-CHESTED JAY-THRTJSH (Garrulax leurolofJni*). 



Head, neck, and breast white, washed with ashy-grey 

 on the nape and back of neck ; a black streak from 

 upper mandible through the eye to the ear-coverts : re- 

 mainder of plumage rufous-brown washed with oliva- 

 ceous, and becoming more chestnut at its junction with 

 the white ; tail darker ; flights and tail with dusky 

 inner webs ; bill black ; feet leaden grey ; iris red- 

 brown to brownish-yellow. Hab., Himalayas from the 

 far north-west to Bootan, and thence through the Khasia 

 hills to Arrakan. (Jerdo<n.) 



Jerdon says of this species (" Birds of India," Vol. II., 

 p. 35) : " It assembles in large flocks of twenty or more, 

 every now and then bursting out into a chorus of most 

 discordant laughter, quite startling at first, and scream- 

 ing and chattering for some time. They feed on the 

 ground a good deal, turning over dead leaves for insects, 

 but also eat various berries. They frequent the hill 

 zone from about 2,000 to 6,000 feet'of elevation (rarely 

 higher), but are most numerous between 3,000 and 

 4,000 feet. 



" I have had the nest and eggs brought me more than 

 once when at Darjeeling, the former being a large mass 

 of roots, moss, and grass, with a few pure white eggs/' 



The following notes a>re from Oates's edition of Hume's 

 " Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds," Vol. I., pp. 47, 48 : 

 - "According to Mr. Hodgson's notes, the Himalayan 

 White-crested Laughing-Thrush breeds at various eleva- 

 tions in Sikhim and Nepal, from the Terai to an eleva- 

 tion of 5,000 or 6,000 feet, from April to June. It lays 

 four to six eggs, which are described and figured as 

 pure white, very broad ovals, measuring 1.2 by 0.9. It 

 breeds, we are told, in small trees, constructing a rude 

 cup-shaped nest amongst a clump of shoots, or between 

 a number of slender twigs, of dry bamboo-leaves, 

 creepers, scales of the turmeric plant, etc., and lined 

 with fine roots." 



According to Mr. Gammie, "The eggs are usually four 



