210 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



TREATMENT IN HEALTH. 



May be treated like the " Shama " (No. 59). 



Breeding. — The magpie robins breed in this garden in a wild state 

 from April to July ; they build their nests in holes of trees or hollows 

 formed by the parting of branches ; their favourite trees appear to be the 

 following: — mango, peepul, tamarind, and kadam {Nauclea kadamba). 

 A pair of these birds building in a mango tree close to an aquatic 

 birds' tank were observed to carry off the cast-away down of the swans 

 and other birds. 



(59) THE SHAMA. 

 (CITTOCINCLA MACRQUKA— (Gmel.) ) 



No description is necessary. 



Hab. — " The Shama is a permanent resident of the warm and well- 

 watered jungles of the Peninsula of India and Burma" (Hume). 

 Except in the Terai at the foot of the North-West Himalayas, it is 

 unknown in the North- Western Provinces of India. Those brought to 

 Calcutta are generally from Midnapore, Cuttaek and Western Bengal. 

 Specimens are sometimes brought down from Groruckpore in the Terai 

 and the Doons ; it is scarce in the delta of Bengal, but common in the 

 hill tracts of Assam, Sylhet, Burmah, Malacca, and even Ceylon. 



Length of life in captivity. 

 One of the specimens obtained in 1888 is still alive and well. 



TREATMENT IN HEALTH. 



Although it has from time to time been kept in a large aviary with 

 tolerable success, it should, as a general rule, be treated as a cage-bird, 

 and for this purpose a light bamboo cage should be preferred. The prac- 

 tice of covering the shama cages and those of other singing birds 

 with a piece of cloth, so generally adopted in India for the purpose, no 

 doubt, of inducing them to sing at night, has been found to be very 

 beneficial, especially during the winter. It conduces much to the health 

 and liveliness of the bird if the cage containing it be taken out every 

 evening for an airing. Shamas should be kept singly. 



Food.— In captivity its food consists of satoo, prepared with boiled 

 ghi, grasshoppers and maggots. The latter should be perfectly free from 

 the dirt in which they breed and live. During the winter and rains, 

 meat may be given as a substitute for, or in addition to, maggots ; it 

 should be minced fine and thoroughly washed, and made into very small 

 pellets : another, and better way of giving it, is to divide the minced 

 meat into tiny lumps, each small enough to be picked up at a time, and 

 stick them between the wire of the cage in several places. 



Shamas do not breed in captivity. 



Treatment in sickness. 



Shamas have been known to suffer from debility and emaciution as 

 the effect probably of age and confinement. Of the two cases that came 



