500 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



cage bird. Allied to M. Horsfieldii, is M. cyaneus, Horsfield, the 

 Pitta glaucina of Temminck, from Java. 



343. Myiophonus Temminckii, Vigors. 



P. Z. S., 1831— Gould, Cent. Him. Birds, pi. 21 ; Blyth, Cat. 

 926— HoRSF., Cat. 281. 



Kastura of the hills, (R,oy\Q)-Kaljit, of the Doon, (Hutton) — 

 Chamong-pho, Lepch. — Tetiman, Bhot. 



The Yellow-billed Whistling Thrush. 



Descr. — General hue black, richly overlaid with cobalt or smalt- 

 blue on the wings and tail ; and the feathers of the whole head and 

 neck, back, breast, and abdomen, centred with glistening cobalt- 

 blue ; shoulder of the wing, deep glistening blue, and the wing- 

 coverts with some white specks on their tips. 



Bni pale yellow, dusky on the culmen ; legs dark brown ; irides 

 dark brown. Length 13 inches; wing 1^; tail 5^ ; bill at front 

 1^; tarsus 2. 



This Yellow-billed Whistling Thrush is found throughout the Hi- 

 malayas fromBootan to Simla, and still further west to Afghanistan; 

 also eastward, in the Khasia hills, in Arrakan, and Tenasserim. 



It is common at Darjeeling, and is found from the lowest valleys 

 to at least 8,000 feet of elevation; Hutton states that it extends up to 

 the snows at Simla. Like the last species, it is fond of frequenting 

 the beds of streams, and may generally be seen on a rock in the midst 

 of some roaring torrent, where it feeds on the larvas of Libellulce, 

 and some other water -insects, and may often be seen on an adjacent 

 rock to its near ally, the Water-dipper {Hydrobata asiatica). 

 Hutton remarks that it " is as often found in open rocky spots, 

 on the skirts of forests, or among the woods, loving to jump upon 

 stones or rocky pinnacles, from whence he sends forth a sort of 

 choking chattering song, if such it can be called, or, with an up- 

 jerk of the tail, hops away with a loud musical whistle, very much 

 after the manner of the Blackbird." Vigne says that "its musi- 

 cal whistle is the sweetest note heard in the hills." It is not at all 

 like the whistling of a man, as that of its Malabar congener ; but is 

 a pretty, slow measured, song. 



