20 
In N.E. Cachar Mr. 7. Inglis found this Ouzel rather rare and only met with during the cold 
weather (cf. Hume, Str. Е. v. р. 50, 1877). Mr. Stuart Baker says that in Northern Cachar it is not 
only very common during the cold weather, but a good many stay and nest, though the majority 
migrate to the higher ranges in the Naga Hills and some to Manipur (J. Bomb. Soc. Nat. Hist. ix. 
p. 137, 1894). Colonel Godwin-Austen has met with it in the North Cachar Hills at Hungrum and 
on Hernes Peak, again at Asalu, and in the Naga and Khasia Hills. 
In Manipur Mr. Hume noticed the species on the wooded slopes of the Barak Valley in the 
western hills, but this was the only place that he found it (Str. F. xi. p. 128, 1888). Colonel 
Godwin-Austen has also procured it at Aimul and Tankung in the Manipur Hills. 
Тһе Grey-winged Ouzel is universally admitted to be a fine songster, but Jerdon thinks that it is 
hardly so good as the Nilghiri Ouzel. ЈЕ is tolerably common, he says, in the Himalayas, but 
is rather shy, and does not show itself in the open or in gardens, like its Nilghiri congener (B. Ind. 
i. p. 525). 
The following account of the species is given in Mr. Oates's edition of Mr. Hume's * Nests and 
Eggs of Indian Birds,’ ii. p. 93, 1890) :—“ The Grey-winged Ouzel breeds throughout the outer ranges 
of the Himalayas, at any rate from Darjeeling to Murree, in and about the skirts of forests, from an 
elevation of say 4000 to 7000 feet. 1t lays from the end of April to the early part of August, but 
the great majority lay in May and June. 
“Тһе situation of the nest varies: it is sometimes placed on the ground, in some hollow of a 
massive root, or in a fallen trunk ; sometimes on à ledge of rock, and sometimes in a fork of some 
thick tree of moderate size, at no great elevation from the ground. 
“Тһе nests of this species closely resemble those of the Nilghiri Blackbird. There is the same 
internal wattle-and-dab framework, the same massive external coating of moss and delicate ferns, and 
the same soft internal lining, in the case of this species most commonly of fine dry grass. The 
specimens before me are fully 74 inches in external diameter—beautiful masses of moss, lichen, and 
dry feathery fern, standing something like 5 inches high, with deep egg-cavities, 3$ inches across by 
21 in depth. Ав far as I can judge, M. boulboul employs less mud in the construction of its nest 
than the southern allied species; but their general appearance is very similar, though the Himalayan 
nests seem to be generally rather the lightest, although the largest. 
« Four is the normal number of the eggs, but I have taken five. 
“From Nepal Mr. Hodgson notes that he “found a nest on the 6th of June at Jaha-powah 
containing three fresh eggs; a dull verditer green, much obscured by reddish-brown freckles. The 
nest measured externally 6 inches in diameter, and 2:6 inches in height; the cavity was 1:5 inch in 
diameter and 1'6 inch in depth. Тһе nest was in a wood, on а thick stump of a cut tree about 
two feet high, and completely hidden by the new shoots springing up from the stump. The nest was 
entirely composed of moss, firm and compact, and lined with hair-like fibres.’ 
« Mr. Gammie says :— I took a nest of this species out of a large tree within reach of the ground 
at an elevation of about 4000 feet on the Government Cinchona plantations, Sikhim. This was on 
the 20th May, and the nest contained three fresh eggs. The nest was a very beautiful, finely woven 
cup, composed entirely of fine roots, but with a little green moss and a few dead leaves intermingled 
externally. No mud at all had been used in the construction of the nest. The cavity measured 
3-5 inches in diameter and over 2 inches in depth, and was nowhere above an inch in thickness. 
The eggs were of the usual type: a delicate sea-green ground richly blotched and streaked with red 
and brownish red, and with a little pale purple intermingled at the larger end, where also the 
markings are more dense, in fact almost confluent.’ 
“Tater on, he again wrote :—* This Ouzel breeds in the Darjeeling district from May to August, 
most commonly about the elevation of 5000 feet, near the edges of large forests. 1% sometimes builds 
