16 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



and low down in the hills, and comes freely into gar- 

 dens, making its presence known obtrusively by a 

 squeaky babbling varied by hysterical outbursts. 



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 undoubted- 

 ly 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 



