1 14 TUflDID JS. 



I have much hesitation in placing this genus here. It is the 

 only genus of the Turdidce, with the exception of the Accentorincv, 

 in which the tarsus is strongly or at all scutellated ; the bill is, 

 moreover, quite of a different character to that of any of the 

 Thrush tribe, and the rictal bristles are reduced to a minimum. 

 The young are mottled to a slight extent only. A better place 

 may possibly hereafter be found for it. 



In Thamnobia the bill is slender and curved downwards, the 

 wing is very rounded, and the tarsus is strongly scutellated in 

 front. 



The two species of this genus appear to run into each other at 

 the common point of meeting in about the latitude of Bombay ; 

 but with reference to this, two points should be carefully regarded. 

 They are both subject to two kinds of change of plumage. One 

 change is caused by the ordinary wearing away of the margins of 

 the feathers during the winter, and the other, coincident in time 

 with this, is caused by the further abrasion of the feathers after 

 the margins are worn off. In consequence of these changes it is 

 difficult for nine months of the year to be quite certain to which 

 species any particular specimen may belong if the abrasion of the 

 feathers has been at all normal. I have had no difficulty, how- 

 ever, in separating autumnal freshly-moulted birds, and they can 

 be ranged into two series, each of which is found to occupy a 

 different geographical area. In a certain zone, from Ahmednagar 

 to the mouth of the Godavari valley, both species occur, but they 

 are to be separated even here if birds in good plumage be 

 examined. 



The Indian Robins, as they are termed by residents in India, 

 are familiar birds, being found in compounds, &c., and nesting in 

 houses, or in their immediate vicinity. These birds feed a good 

 deal on the ground, and- have the habit of erecting the tail after the 

 fashion of Robins. Both species are resident. The sexes are 

 different, and while the males of the two species are not difficult to 

 discriminate, the females are very close to each other. 

 i 



Key to the Species. 



a. With white on the wing-coverts. 



a'. Upper plumage sandy brown T. cambaiensis tf, p. 114. 



b'. Upper plumage black T.fulicata rf, p. 115. 



b. With no white on the wing-coverts . . \ T ' c ^ lba j ens j s ? ' P 114 ' 



) T.fulicata <j>, p. 115. 



661. Thamnobia cambaiensis. The Brown-backed Indian Robin. 



Sylvia cambaiensis, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii, p. 554 (1790). 



Thamnobia cambaiensis (Lath.}, Blyth, Cat. p. 165 ; Horsf. & M. 



Cat. i, p. 283 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 122 ; Stoliczka, J. A. & B. xxxvii', 



pt. 11, p. 40, xli, pt. ii, p. 237 ; Hume, S. F. i, p. 182 ; id. N. $ E. 



p. 309; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 216 ; Hume, Cat, no. 480 ; Sharpe, Cat. 



B. M. vii, p. 55 ; Barnes, Birds Bom, p. 198 ; Gates in Hume's 



N. $ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 71. 



