The Common Birds of the Nilgiris 



A very different bird is the southern or 

 Nilgiri black bulbul (Jlyfsifetes ganeesa). This 

 is an untidy-looking creature. Its crest is 

 ragged. Its general hue is shabby black or 

 brown, tinged with grey in places. The bill 

 and feet are bright coral red. Black bulbuls 

 utter a variety of notes, most of which are 

 pleasing to the human ear, although they 

 incline to harshness. The birds go about in 

 flocks. 



THE SITTID.E OR NUTHATCH FAMILY 



Nuthatches are little climbing birds char- 

 acterised by short tails. Like woodpeckers, 

 they feed on insects, which they pick off the 

 trunks and branches of trees. Unlike wood- 

 peckers, however, they move about the trunks 

 of trees with the head pointing indifferently 

 downwards or upwards. The common nut- 

 hatch of the Nilgiris is the velvet-fronted blue 

 nuthatch {Sitta frontalis). The upper plumage 

 is dark blue, the cock having a velvety-black 

 forehead and a black streak through the eye. 

 The lower parts are creamy white. The bill 

 is coral red. The note is a loud tee-tee-tee. 



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