Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



a systematist comes across an Asiatic bird of 

 which he can make nothing, he classes it 

 among the Crateropodidae. This is convenient 

 for the systematist, but embarrassing for the 

 naturalist. 



The most characteristic members of the 

 family are those ugly, untidy, noisy earth- 

 coloured birds which occur everywhere in the 

 plains, and always go about in little com- 

 panies, whence their popular name " seven 

 sisters." 



To men of science these birds are known 

 as babblers. Babblers proper are essentially 

 birds of the plains. In the hills they are re- 

 placed by their cousins, the laughing-thrushes. 

 Laughing-thrushes are merely glorified bab- 

 blers. The Himalayan streaked laughing- 

 thrush (Trochalopterum lineatum) is one of the 

 commonest of the birds of our hill stations. 

 It is a reddish brown fowl, about eight inches 

 long. Each of its feathers has a black shaft ; 

 it is these dark shafts that give the bird its 

 streaked appearance. Its chin, throat, and 

 breast are chestnut-red, and on each cheek 

 there is a patch of similar hue. The general 

 appearance of the streaked laughing-thrush 

 is that of one of the seven sisters who is 



43 



