16 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



In confinement it is very easy to tame, will eat table 

 scraps readily, and is amusing for a time ; but nobody 

 would want to keep such a frowsy unmusical creature for 

 long, interesting as its habits undoubtedly are. Birds 

 'which I turned out after studying them for some time 

 remained so tame that they would still take food from 

 the hand ; and I imagine that a hand-reared one would 

 make a very nice pet. The nest is an open cup-shaped 

 one, placed low down, and the eggs are of a most lovely 

 blue. In Bengal this bird is called Chataria. 



THE RAT-BIRD (Argya caudata) is a less common and 

 smaller species with a long Magpie-like tail, and coloured 

 like a hen-Sparrow. It gets its popular name from the 

 rat-like appearance given by the said tail as it skulks 

 along the ground from bush to bush. This is also a bird 

 of the plains, but not nearly so bold or so common as the 

 Sat-bhai. Its nest and eggs are of the same type. 



THE STREAKED LAUGHING-THRUSH (Trochalopterum 

 lineatum] is very common in the Himalayas up to 9,000 

 feet, and is common about houses at Mussoorie. 



In shape it resembles the common Babbler of the plains, 

 but is rather smaller. Its plumage is darker, being a 

 streaky mixture of grey and chestnut ; the eyes, bill 

 and feet are dark, and the tail has distinct light-grey 

 tips. It is a tame but most uninteresting bird, and has 

 a feeble note. The eggs are blue, as usual in this group, 

 and the nest low down. 



The hills form the home of several large and showy 

 species of this group, often called Jay-Thrushes, a name 

 which well expresses their attributes. The most striking is 



