38 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



410. Garrulax ruficollis, Jard. and Selby. 



Ianthocincla, apud Jardine and Selby, 111. Orn., 2nd Scries, 

 pi. 21 — Blyth, Cat. 496 — Horsf. Cat. 293 — Ianthoc. lunaris, 

 McLelland — Pobduya, Beng. — Rajjchen-pho, Lepch. 



The Rufous-necked Laughing-thrush. 



Descr. — General plumage olive-brown, darker on the tail, which 

 is almost black at the tip, and passing into deep ashy on the crown 

 and occiput ; forehead, orbitar region, ear-coverts, throat, and fore- 

 neck, deep black ; a crescent-like patch of deep rufous on the sides 

 of the neck ; middle of the lower abdomen, vent, and under tail- 

 coverts, rufous. 



Bill black ; legs livid brown ; irides dull red. Length 9| 

 inches ; extent 12^ ; wing 4 ; tail h\ ; bill at front f ; tarsus H. 



This Garrulax is found at the foot of the Himalayas, extending 

 up the slopes of the hills, to perhaps 2,000 feet ; and is also com- 

 mon in the forests of Assam, Sylhct, and Cachar, and the eastern 

 frontier of Bengal. I first observed it in the Sikhim Terai, where I 

 was absolutely startled by a large troop of them, twenty or thirty 

 at least, suddenly breaking out into a most extraordinary cack- 

 ling, chattering, crowing chorus, some of the notes being clear, 

 others harsh. The birds were in some bamboo jungle on the road 

 side, some feeding on the ground, others perched on the bamboos 

 and trees around ; and they did not leave the spot, nor cease their 

 calling, till I had shot two or three of them. I found that they had 

 been feeding chiefly on insects, also on seeds. Buchanan Hamilton 

 says that this bird is easily tamed, sings with a fine full mellow 

 note, like a Blackbird, and lives on insects and plantains, &c. 



The next group is distinguished by their dull plumage, by* the tail 

 feathers tipped with white, and by a tendency of the outer web of the 

 primaries to be lighter colored, as in the next genus. The bill is stron- 

 ger than in the last, the nostrils more apert, the rictal bristles feeble, 

 the tarsus strongly scutated, and the middle toe less lengthened. 



411. Garrulax albogularis, Gould. 



Ianthocincla, apud Gould, P. Z. S., 1835 — Blyth, Cat. 484 — 

 Horsf., Cat. 286 — Cinclos. albigula, Hodgson— Karveum-pho, 

 Lepch. 



