3] 4 TURDIN/E. 



Gen. Erithacus. Cuv. 



In this genus, as revised, there are only sixteen known species, six only 

 being found in India. The bill is small or of mean length, generally black 

 above and paler on the under mandible ; rictal bristles small or nearly 

 obsolete ; wings moderate ; tail short, more or less rounded, and of 12 feathers ; 

 tarsus long, slender, and not scutellated, except occasionally in young birds. 

 Three species of the six which occur in British India are known to breed in 

 the Himalayas In habits they closely resemble the Redstarts. They feed 

 mostly on the ground, insects generally being their chief food. 



388. ErithaCUS bmnneUS, (Hodgs.) Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. 



p. 302. Larvivora brunnea, Hodgs., J . A. S. B. vi. p. 102, 1837 (female); 

 Legge, B. Ceylon,^. 446. Larvivora cyana, (Pall.) apud. Hodgs., J. A. S. B. 

 vi. p. 102, 1837 (male); apud. Jerd., B. Ind. ii. p. 145, No. 507; apud. 

 Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. B. p. 324. Larvivora superciliaris, (Jerd.) Blyth, 

 Ibis, 1867, p. 16; Brooks, Str. F. 1875, p. 240; Fair bank, Sir. F. 1876, 

 p. 259. The INDIAN BLUE ROBIN or WOOD-CHAT. 



Upper surface dull dark blue ; lores, forehead at base of bill, cheeks, and 

 ear coverts black ; shading into dull, dark blue on the sides of the neck ; 

 supercilium white ; wing and their coverts brown, their outer webs more or 

 less suffused with dull dark blue ; tail brown ; the two centre feathers and 

 the outer webs of the others more or less suffused with dull dark blue ; 

 under surface of body orange chestnut, shading into white on the centre 

 of the abdomen and under tail coverts ; axillaries and under wing coverts grey, 

 more or less suffused with pale blue ; bill dark brown, paler at base of under 

 mandible ; rictal bristles nearly obsolete. 



The female has the upper surface olive brown, slightly suffused with chest- 

 nut on the upper tail coverts ; the under surface is chestnut brown, paler on 

 the chin and throat and white on the centre of the abdomen and under tail 

 coverts. Birds of the year resemble the female. 



Length. 6 to 6'2 inches ; wing 2-8 to 3; tail 1-7 to 1*95; culmen 0-5 to 

 O'6; tarsus r to PI. 



Hob. The Himalayas from Cashmere to Sikkim, the Neilgherries, Travan- 

 core, and Ceylon. Jerdon records it from near Calcutta. At Darjeeling it is 

 said to be common ; also about Madras. It frequents open forests in the 

 hills, perching low and descending to the ground to pick up insects. Breeds 

 on the Himalayas and the Neilgherries. Mr. Davison in Nests and Eggs 

 says the nest was in a hole in the trunk of a small tree about 5 feet from 

 the ground and was composed chiefly of moss, but mixed with dry leaves and 

 twigs. The egg taken by Mr. Davison was an elongated, slightly pyriform 

 oval, the ground colour a pale slightly greyish green, thickly mottled and 

 streaked with pale brownish red ; size O^S x Q'6j. 



