44 



NOTES ON THE INDIAN TIMELIIDES AND THEIR 



ALLIES 



(LAUGHING THRUSHES, BABBLERS/ &c.). 



BY 



Major H. H. Harington, Indian Army. 



Having spent a considerable portion of my leave working through 

 that interesting group of birds — the Indian Timeliides — and in so 

 doing collected together a large mass of notes ; I venture to publish 

 these, as a great number of birds new to the Fauna of India, have 

 been added since Mr. Oates published his admirable work on the 

 birds of India.* 



The descriptions of these new species have appeared from time to 

 time in variotis Journals and Bulletins, which are not always avail-' 

 able to residents in the East. I hope, 'therefore, by republishing 

 these descriptions, I shall at least be of some assistance to others 

 who have been unable to procure them. 



I have also made an attempt, not altogether successfully, to bring 

 some sort of order into this very complex group of birds. My first 

 and chief difficulty has been to know what birds should be admitted 

 into the Timeliides, as I have been unable to find any definition 

 giving their characteristics. Mr. Oates in his " Crater 02:>odid.ce^' 

 included a great number of Families and Genera which are now not 

 considered to belong to the Timeliides, many of these have been 

 placed in other Families by Dr. Sharp in his " Hand List. " There, 

 however, still remain several Genera which I consider should be 

 removed from this sub-order. 



The nearest definition of the characteristics of the Timeliides, 

 I can find is that given by Jerdon.f This unfortunately does not 

 cover all the Genera which are at present included in this sub-order. 



"Legs and feet stout and large; bill various in form and length 

 almost always compressed, usually notched ; wing short and rounded ; 

 tail longish, gi-aduated; plumage often lax." (Jerdon.) 



From the above I have presumed to formulate the following, 

 which I hope covers all those I consider should be included within 

 the Timeliides : — 



Wings, short and rounded; powerful legs and feet, suitable 

 for progTession on the ground ; shape of bill, and length of tail, 

 very variable; plumage of the young not markedly difierent 

 from that of the adult; non-migratory in habits; and no 

 seasonal change in plumage. 



* " Birds " Fauna of British India. 



t Jerdon « Birds of India ". Vol. ii., p. 1 (1863). 



