Babbling Thrushes 657 



The nests of the Fork-tails, which are large for the size of the bird, are placed 

 on the ground under an overhanging bank, in a niche among the rocks, or 

 occasionally on tree stumps, and are concealed by overhanging ferns and other 

 vegetation. They are composed of grass, moss, rootlets, etc., and lined with 

 finer rootlets, hair, and dead leaves; the four or five greenish white eggs are 

 sparsely spotted with reddish brown. 



THE BABBLING THRUSHES 



(Family Timeliidce) 



Of all the "families" of Oscines perhaps none is more difficult of intelligible 

 definition, or generally unsatisfactory, than the present. It appears to have 

 been instituted as a sort of "catch-all" for the reception of certain groups that 

 did not fit well into the current systems, with the result that it was at first made 

 to include many forms that have since been referred to the true Thrushes (Tur- 

 didcE), Wrens (Troglodytida), Bulbuls (Pycnonotida), Birds-of- Paradise (Par- 

 adiseida), Bower Birds (Ptilonorhynchidce), etc., but it still embraces a goodly 

 number. As our knowledge of the structure of these forms increases, a point 

 on which information is still woefully inadequate, it is more than likely that 

 further eliminations will be made until perhaps nothing is left, or it is restricted 

 to a logical basis. In the meantime, however, the "family" may be accepted 

 with the frank confession that it is neither adequate nor satisfactory. 



As the supposed diagnostic characters are at present understood, the Time- 

 liida form a large group of mainly tropical Old World birds of various sizes in 

 which the bill is decidedly Thrush-like, the wings short, rounded, and concave 

 so as to fit close to the sides of the body, and the whole plumage generally 

 lax and soft. The outer of the ten primaries is comparatively large, and the 

 plumage of the nestling is like that of the adult female, though paler, both being 

 unspotted. 



A number of subfamilies have been recognized within the Timeliidtz, but 

 as there is not agreement as to the number or their limitation, we may ignore 

 these lines and select for description a few trenchant groups of genera, beginning 

 with a half dozen known collectively as the Laughing Thrushes. They are 

 non-migratory, large birds, mostly between nine and twelve inches in length, 

 with the head more or less distinctly crested, and very strong legs and feet, while 

 the wings are rounded and weak. Most strongly developed in the Himalayas 

 and India, they range southward over the Indian peninsula and large islands 

 adjacent, and westward into Africa. According to Oates, "all are without 

 exception gregarious, being found in troops of from six to twelve individuals. 

 They feed principally on the ground, their strong feet and bills enabling them 

 to turn over leaves, and they are also found on trees, on which they take refuge 

 when disturbed. On being alarmed, or frequently without any apparent cause, 

 they break out into a chorus of notes resembling laughter or loud chatter. They 



