Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



hills, and everyone who has travelled in 

 the inner ranges must be familiar with them, 

 even if he do not know what to call them. 

 The white-capped redstart {Chimarrhornis leu- 

 cocefhalus) is a bird that compels attention. 

 His black plumage looks as though it were 

 made of rich velvet. On his head he wears 

 a cap as white as snow. His tail, rump, 

 and abdomen are bright chestnut red, so that, 

 as he leaps into the air after the circling gnat, 

 he looks almost as if he were on fire. 



The third common bird of Himalayan streams 

 is the plumbeous redstart or water-robin (^Rhy- 

 acornis fuliginosus). This species is very robin- 

 like in appearance. The body is dusky indigo 

 blue ; the tail and abdomen are ferruginous. 

 The habits of this and the bird just described 

 are similar. Both species love to disport 

 themselves on rocks and boulders lapped by 

 the gentle-flowing stream in the valley, or 

 lashed by the torrent on the hillside. Like 

 all redstarts, these constantly flirt the tail. 



The grey-winged ouzel {Merula boulboul) is 

 perhaps the finest songster in the Himalayas. 

 Throughout the early summer the cock makes 

 the wooded hillsides ring with his blackbird- 

 like melody. The grey-winged ouzel is a 



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