534 birds of india. 



The Small-billed Mountain Thrush. 



Descr. — Above rich pale olive brown, each feather tipped black, 

 and with a light spot in the centre bordering the black ; lores, 

 cheeks, and ear-coverts, whitish, the latter tipped dusky, and fulvous 

 posteriorly ; quills dusky at the end, v/ith a narrow and partial mar- 

 gin of light brown, and a pale streak near their base, where they are 

 white beneath ; primary coverts black-tipped; the other coverts 

 tipped fulvous ; beneath white, tinged with fulvous on the throat 

 and breast, and each feather with a narrow band of deep brown 

 or black, most numerous on the breast, few on the middle of the 

 abdomen, and obsolete on the vent and under tail-coverts. 



Bill brownish-dusky ; legs and feet brownish-yellow ; irides dark 

 hazel-brown ; the 3rd quill is the longest, and the 5th slightly 

 longer than 2nd. Length about 10^ inches ; wing 5| ; tail 3| ; 

 bill at front j% ; tarsus 1^^. 



This very elegant and beautifully-marked Thrush is tolerablv 

 common throughout the Himalayas, and, during the cold season, 

 descends to the plains. It is not uncommon in Lower Bengal. J 

 first procured it in the jungles south of Cuttack, on the Chilka lake, 

 and afterwards in the Wynaad jungle, and also near Saugor in Central 

 India. It probably extends its summer migrations far North and 

 West, for it has been killed in England and it is kno-wn to inhabit 

 Northern Asia and Japan. It is very partial to bamboo jungles, 

 feeding on the ground, and flying up into the bamboos or other trees. 

 Its food does not differ from that of other Thrushes. I found fruit and 

 seed in those which I examined. Its fli<^ht is rapid and elegant. 



372. Oreocincla nilgiriensis, Blyth. 

 J. A. S., XL, 7, 181.— Blyth, Cat. 930— Jerdon, 2nd Suppl. 

 Cat. 85 bis — T. varius apud Jerdon, Suppl. Cat. 95 bis. 

 The Neilgherry Thrush. 



Descr. — Above deep olive-brown, each feather edged black ; 

 lores pale, white and fulvous ; ear-coverts dark, the feathers 

 centred pale ; quills rufescent olive-brown, dusky within ; primary 

 coverts banded with black, and some of the median and greater 

 coverts tipped fulvous ; beneath white, faintly tinged with fulvous, 

 and with numerous close and wide bands of rich deep brown on 



