Subfamily CRATEROPODINA. 
Genus ARGYA. 
Turdus apud Desfontaines, Mém. de Acad. Roy. Sc. 1787, p. 498. 
Malurus apud Cretzschmar, in Riipp. Atl. p. 19 (1826). 
Sphenura apud Ehrenberg, Symb. Phys. fol. cc (1828). 
Argya, Lesson, Traité d’Orn. p. 402 (1831). 
Crateropus apud Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 278 (1850). 
UnbovusTEDLY the Bush-babblers must be ranged near the Warblers, and in the large family 
Turdide, though they form a clearly distinct subfamily, in which there is only the present 
genus. The Bush-babblers inhabit the extreme southern portion of the Palearctic Region, the 
northern portion of the Ethiopian, and the Indian Regions, two species only being found within 
the limits of the regions of which I treat. In habits these birds are somewhat peculiar, differing 
considerably from the Thrushes and Warblers. ‘They frequent the rough scrub in desert places, 
creeping about amongst the thickets with ease; and they are said to run with facility on the 
ground from bush to bush. Their flight resembles that of the Starling; and they are as 
garrulous as that bird. They build a large nest of roots and grasses, which is placed on a 
bush, and deposit uniform dark-blue eggs. They feed on insects, berries, and seeds. 
Argya squamiceps, the type of the genus, has the bill moderate in size, curved towards the 
tip; nostrils oval, placed in the anterior portion of the nasal depression, which is posteriorly 
feathered; gape without bristles; wings broad, rather short, first quill about three quarters the 
length of the second, which is shorter than the eighth, the third to the seventh nearly equal, 
the fourth being the longest; tail long, much graduated ; legs and feet strong, the tarsus covered 
in front with five plates and three inferior scutelle. 
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