] 24 ceatekopodidjE. 



189. Myiophoneus horsfieldi, Vigors. The Malabar Whistling- 

 Thrush. 



Myiophonus horsfieldii, Vig., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 499 ; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. $ E. no. 342. 



Mr. W. Davison says :— " The Malabar Whistling-Thrush 

 (rather a misnomer, by the way) breeds on the slopes of the Nil- 

 ghiris, never ascending higher than 6000 feet. The nest is always 

 placed on some rock in a mountain torrent ; it is a coarse and, for 

 the size of the bird, a very large structure, and though I have 

 never measured the nest, I should say that the total height was 

 about 18 inches or more, and the greatest diameter about 18 inches. 

 Exteriorly it is composed, of roots, dead leaves, and decaying vege- 

 tation of all kinds ; the egg-cavity, which is saucer-shaped and 

 comparatively shallow, is coarsely lined with roots. It breeds 

 during March and April." 



Miss Cockburn says : — " A nest of this bird was found on the 

 22nd of March in a hole in a tree situated in a wood at a height 

 of about 40 feet from the ground. Two bamboo ladders had to be 

 tied together to reach it, for the tree had no branches except at 

 the top. The nest consisted of a large quantity of sticks and dried 

 roots of young trees, laid down in the form of a Blackbird's nest. 

 The contents of it were three eggs. They were quite fresh, and 

 the bird might have laid another. The poor birds (particularly the 

 hen) showed great boldness and returned frequently to the nest, 

 while a ladder was put up and a man ascended it." 



Such a situation for the nest of this bird may seem incredible ; 

 but my friend Miss Cockburn is a most careful observer, and she 

 sent me one of the eggs taken from this very nest, and it undoubt- 

 edly belonged to this species ; moreover, there is no other bird on 

 the Nilghiris that she, who has figured most beautifully all the 

 Nilghiri birds, could possibly have mistaken for this species. At 

 the same time, the situation in which she found the nest was alto- 

 gether unusual and exceptional. 



I now find that such a situation for the nest of this bird is not 

 even very unusual. On the 3rd of July Miss Cockburn took 

 another nest in a hole in a tree, about thirty feet from the ground, 

 containing three fresh eggs, which she kindly sent me ; and writing 

 from the Wynaad Mr. J. Darling, jun., remarks that there this 

 species commonly builds in holes in trees. He says : — " July 

 22nd. Nest found near Kythery, S. Wynaad, in a crevice of a log 

 of a felled tree in a new clearing 11 feet from the ground. West 

 built entirely of roots. The foundation was of roots from some 

 swampy ground and had a good deal of mud about it. Another 

 nest was in a hole of a dead tree 32 feet from the ground." 



Mr. Prank Bourdillon writes from Travancore : — ■" Very common 

 from the base to near the summit of the hills, frequenting alike jungle 

 and open clearings, though generally found in the neighbourhood of 

 some running stream ; I have known this species to build on ledges 

 of rock and in a hollow tree overhanging a stream, in either case 

 constructing a rather loosely put together nest of roots and coarse 



