Birds of the Indian Hills 



cause it has no objection to any person hearing its 

 voice, which may be likened to the squeak of a 

 rusty axle. This Nilgiri babbler does not enter 

 gardens unless they are somewhat unkempt 

 and contain plenty of thick bushes. 



Mirabile dictu, this shy and retiring bird is 

 none other than the jungle babbler (Crateropus 

 canorus) — the common seven sisters or sath 

 bhai — which in northern India is as bold and 

 almost as confiding as the robin. No one has 

 attempted to explain why the habits of this 

 species on the Nilgiris should differ so much 

 from those it displays in other places. 



The southern scimitar babbler {Pomatorhinus 

 horsfieldi), like the jungle babbler on the Nilgiris, 

 is a bird heard more often than seen. 



Every person who has spent any time at 

 Coonoor must be well acquainted with the 

 notes of this species. A common call is a loud 

 ko-ko-ko-e-e-e. Sometimes one bird calls ko-ko- 

 ko, and another answers ko-ee. When the birds 

 are feeding in company, they keep up a continual 

 chatter, which is not unpleasing to the ear. 

 When alarmed they give vent to a harsh cry 

 of a kind characteristic of the babbler tribe. 

 The scimitar-babbler is a bird nearly as big as 

 a myna. It is of brownish hue and has a tail 



