Birds of the Indian Hills Part 13

The Madras seven sisters (_Crateropus griseus_) do not ascend the hills to any considerable height. But, of course there are seven sisters in the hills. Every part of India has its flocks of babblers.

The Nilgiri babbler is a shy bird; it seems to dislike being watched.

One might think it is aware that it is not so beautiful as it might be. But this cannot be the reason, because 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 c.o.o.noor 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 of moderate length. The breast and chin are pure white, and there is a white line running along each side of the head from front to back. The yellow beak is long and curved, hence the adjectival "scimitar." It is impossible to mistake the bird. The difficulty is to obtain anything more than a fleeting glimpse of it. It is so shy that it takes cover the instant it knows that it is being watched. It hops about in thick bushes with considerable address, much as a crow-pheasant does. It feeds on insects, which it picks off the ground or from leaves and trunks of trees. It uses the long bill as a probe, by means of which it secures insects lurking in the crevices of bark.

The Nilgiri laughing-thrush (_Trochalopterum cachinnans_) is a very common bird on the hills. Like the two species of babbler already described, it is a shy creature, living amid thick shrubs, from which it seldom ventures far. The head is slightly crested, the upper plumage, including the wings and tail, is olive brown. The head is set off by a white eyebrow. The under parts are chestnut. The beak and legs are black. Laughing-thrushes congregate in small flocks.

They subsist chiefly on fruit. Their cry is loud and characteristic; it may be described as a bird's imitation of human laughter. Their cheerful calls are among the sounds heard most often at Ootacamund and c.o.o.noor.

The Indian white-eye (_Zosterops palpebrosa_) is a bird that has puzzled systematists. Jerdon cla.s.sed it among the t.i.ts, and its habits certainly justify the measure; but later ornithologists have not accepted the dictum "Manners makyth bird," and have placed the white-eye among the babblers.

The white-eye is a plump little bird, considerably smaller than a sparrow. The head and back are yellowish green, becoming almost golden in the sunlight. The wings and tail are brown. The chin, breast, and feathers under the tail are bright yellow, the abdomen is white. Round the eye is a ring of white feathers, interrupted in front by a black patch.

From this ring--its most striking feature--the bird has derived its name. The ring is very regular, and causes the bird to look as though it had been decorating its eye with Aspinall's best enamel.

White-eyes invariably go about in flocks; each member of the company utters unceasingly a cheeping note in order to keep his fellows apprized of his movements. These birds feed largely on insects, which they pick off leaves in truly t.i.t-like manner, sometimes even hanging head downwards in order to secure a morsel.

The beautiful southern green-bulbul (_Chloropsis malabarica_) is numbered among the Crateropodidae. It is not a true bulbul. It is common on the lower slopes of the Nilgiris, but does not often venture as high as c.o.o.noor. A rich green bulbul-like bird with a golden forehead, a black chin and throat, and a patch of blue on the wing can be none other than this species.

The true bulbuls are also cla.s.sified among the Crateropodidae.

My experience is that the common bulbul of the plains--_Molpastes haemorrhous_, or the Madras red-vented bulbul--is very rarely seen at the Nilgiri hill stations. Jerdon, likewise, states that it ascends the Nilgiris only up to about 6000 feet. Davison, however, declares that the bird begins to get common 4 miles from Ootacamund and is very numerous about c.o.o.noor and all down the ghats. Be this as it may, the Madras red-vented bulbul is not the common bulbul of the Nilgiris. Its sweet notes are very largely, if not entirely, replaced by the yet sweeter and more cheery calls of the hill-bulbul. It will be labour lost to look up this name in Oates's ornithology, because it does not occur in that work. The smart, lively little bird, whose unceasing twittering melody gives our southern hill stations half their charm, has been saddled by men of science with the pompous appellation _Otocompsa fuscicaudata_. Even more objectionable is the English name for the pretty, perky bird. What shall I say of the good taste of those who call it the red-whiskered bulbul, as though it were a seedy Mohammedan who dips his grizzly beard in a pot of red dye by way of beautifying it? I prefer to call this bird the southern hill-bulbul. This name, I admit, leaves something to be desired, because the species is not confined to the hills. It is to be found in most places along the west coast. Nor is it the only bulbul living on the hills. The justification for the name is that if a census were taken of the bird-folk who dwell in our hill stations, it would show that _Otocompsa fuscicaudata_ outnumbered all the crows, mynas, sparrows, flycatchers, and sunbirds put together. It is _the_ bird of the southern hills. Every thicket, every tree--nay, every bush on the hills--has its pair of bulbuls. This species has distinctive plumage. Its most striking feature is a perky crest, which arises from the crown of the head and terminates in a forwardly-directed point, like Mr. Punch's cap. The crest is black and gives the bird a very saucy air. The wings and tail are dark brown, but each feather has a pale edge, which makes a pattern like scales on a fish. Below the eye is a brilliant patch of crimson. A similarly-coloured but larger patch is displayed at the base of the tail. The lower part of the cheek is white; this is divided off from the snowy breast by a narrow black band. The breast is, in its turn, separated from the greyish abdomen by a broad black band, which ornithologists term a collaret. Sometimes the collaret is interrupted in the middle. The hill-bulbul is a most vivacious bird. From dawn to sunset it is an example of perpetual motion. Its vocal cords are as active as its wings. The tinkling sounds of this bulbul form the dominant notes of the bird chorus. Husband and wife almost always move about in company. They flit from tree to tree, from bush to bush, plucking raspberries and other hill fruit as they pa.s.s. Bulbuls eat insects, but not when fruit is available. Like all birds bulbuls have large appet.i.tes. Recently I saw an Otocompsa devour three wild raspberries within as many minutes, each berry was swallowed at one gulp--a surprising feat, considering the small size of the bird's bill.

A bulbul's nest is a beautifully-shaped cup, usually placed in a bush at about 3 feet from the ground. As a rule, the bulbul selects an exposed site for its nest; in consequence many of the eggs are devoured by lizards. Crows in particular are addicted to young bulbuls, and take full advantage of the simplicity of the parent birds. Probably, three out of four broods never reach maturity. But the bulbul is a philosophic little bird. It never cries over broken eggs. If one clutch is destroyed it lays another.

The yellow-browed bulbul (_Iole icteria_) demands notice in pa.s.sing, because it is common on the minor ranges. Its upper plumage is greenish yellow, the wings being darker than the back. The lower parts are canary yellow; the bird has also a yellow ring round the eye. Its note has been described as a soft, mellow whistle.

A very different bird is the southern or Nilgiri black bulbul (_Hypsipetes 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 SITTIDae OR NUTHATCH FAMILY

Nuthatches are little climbing birds characterised by short tails.

Like woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, they feed on insects, which they pick off the trunks and branches of trees. Unlike woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, however, they move about the trunks of trees with the head pointing indifferently downwards or upwards. The common nuthatch of the Nilgiris is the velvet-fronted blue nuthatch (_Sitta frontalis_). The upper plumage is dark blue, the c.o.c.k 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_.

THE DICRURIDae OR DRONGO FAMILY

Several species of drongo or king-crow occur on the Nilgiris, but not one of them is sufficiently abundant to be numbered among the common birds of the hill stations.

THE SYLVIIDae OR WARBLER FAMILY

Of the warblers it may be said "their name is legion." So many species exist, and the various species are so difficult to differentiate, that the family drives most field ornithologists to the verge of despair. Many of the Indian warblers are only winter visitors to India.

Eliminating these, only two warblers are ent.i.tled to a place among the common birds of the Nilgiris. These are the tailor-bird and the ashy wren-warbler.

At c.o.o.noor the tailor-bird (_Orthotomus sartorius_) is nearly as abundant as it is in the plains. Oates, be it noted, states that this species does not ascend the hills higher than 4000 feet. As a matter of fact, the tailor-bird does not venture quite up to the plateau, but it is perfectly at home at all elevations below 6000 feet. This species may be likened to a wren that has grown a respectable tail.

The forehead is ruddy brown, the back of the head is grey, the back is brown tinged with green. The lower plumage is a pale cream colour.

There is a black patch or bar on each side of the neck, visible only when the bird stretches its neck to utter its loud _to-wee_, _to-wee_, _to-wee_. In the breeding season the shafts of the middle pair of tail feathers of the c.o.c.k grow out beyond the rest. These projecting, bristle-like feathers render the c.o.c.k easy of identification.

The ashy wren-warbler (_Prinia socialis_) is another "tiny brownie bird." The wings and tail are brown, the remainder of the upper plumage is the colour of ashes, the under parts are cream coloured. This warbler is a slight, loosely-built bird, and is easily distinguished from others of its kind by the curious snapping noise it makes as it flits from bush to bush. It occurs in pairs or singly. Davison remarks that it is "very fond of working its way up to some conspicuous post--to the top of one of the long flower-stalks of _Lobelia excelsa_, for instance--where it will halt for a minute or two, and then, after making a feeble attempt at a song, will dive suddenly in the brushwood and disappear."

THE LANIIDae OR SHRIKE FAMILY

Shrikes or butcher-birds are hawks in miniature, as regards habits if not in structure. With the exception of the brown shrike (_Lanius cristatus_), which is merely a winter visitor to India, the rufous-backed shrike (_L. erythronotus_) is the only butcher-bird common on the Nilgiris. The head of this species is pale grey, the back is of ruddy hue. The lower parts are white. The forehead and a broad band running through the eye are black. A bird having a broad black band through the eye is probably a shrike, and if the bird in question habitually sits on an exposed branch or other point of vantage, and from thence swoops on to the ground to secure some insect, the probability of its being a butcher-bird becomes a certainty.

Closely related to the shrikes are the minivets. Minivets are birds of t.i.t-like habits which wander about in small flocks from place to place picking insects from the leaves of trees. They are essentially arboreal birds. I have never seen a minivet on the ground.

The common minivet of the Nilgiris is the orange minivet (_Pericrocotus flammeus_). The head and back of the c.o.c.k are black.

His wings are black and flame-colour, the red being so arranged as to form a band running lengthwise and not across the wing. The tail feathers are red, save the median pair, which are black. During flight the flashing red obliterates the black, so that the moving birds resemble tongues of flame and present a beautiful and striking spectacle. The hen is marked like the c.o.c.k, but in her the red is replaced by bright yellow. This beautiful bird ceases to be abundant at elevations higher than c.o.o.noor.

THE ORIOLIDae OR ORIOLE FAMILY

Both the Indian oriole (_Oriolus kundoo_) and the black-headed oriole (_O. melanocephalus_) occur on the Nilgiris, but on the higher ranges they are nowhere numerous. They therefore merit only pa.s.sing notice.

THE STURNIDae OR STARLING FAMILY

The common myna of the Nilgiris is not _Acridotheres tristis_ but _aethiopsar fuscus_--the jungle myna. The casual observer usually fails to notice any difference between the two species, so closely do they resemble one another. Careful inspection, however, shows that the jungle myna has a little patch of feathers in front of the head over the beak. _aethiopsar fuscus_ has all the habits of the common myna. Like the latter, it struts about sedately in company with cattle in order to s.n.a.t.c.h up the gra.s.shoppers disturbed by the moving quadrupeds. It feeds largely on the insects that infest the capsules of _Lobelia excelsa_, and is often to be seen clinging, like a t.i.t, to the stem in order to secure the insects. Davidson gives these mynas a very bad character, he declares that they do immense damage to the fruit gardens on the Nilgiris, so that without the aid of nets, it is next to impossible to preserve pears from their depredations.

No other species of myna is common on the Nilgiris.

THE MUSCICAPIDae OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY

As in the Himalayas so on the Nilgiris the family of flycatchers is well represented. In one small Nilgiri wood I have come across no fewer than six species of flycatcher.

The beautiful little black-and-orange flycatcher (_Ochromela nigrirufa_) is a bird peculiar to the hills of Southern India.

The head and wings of the c.o.c.k are black, the rest of the body is orange, of deeper hue on the back and breast than on the other parts.

The portions of the plumage that are black in the c.o.c.k are slaty brown in the hen. This flycatcher feeds on insects. But unlike most of its kind, it picks them off the ground more often than it secures them in the air.

It never takes a long flight, and almost invariably perches on a branch not more than two feet above the ground. It emits a low cheeping note--a _chur-r-r_, which is not unlike the sound made by some insects.

The Nilgiri blue-flycatcher (_Stoparola albicaudata_) is stoutly-built and a little larger than a sparrow. The male is clothed from head to tail in dark blue; his wife is more dingy, having a plentiful admixture of brownish grey in her plumage.

Blue-flycatchers often occur in little flocks. They have the usual habits of their family, except that they seem sometimes to eat fruit.

A pretty little bird, of which the head, back, tail, and wings are deep blue, and the breast is orange fading into pale yellow towards the abdomen, is Tickell's blue-flycatcher (_Cyornis tickelli_). It has the characteristic habits of its tribe, and continually makes, from a perch, little sallies into the air after flying insects. But, more often than not it starts from one branch, and, having secured its quarry, alights on another. It sings a joyous lay, not unlike that of the fantail-flycatcher, but less sweet and powerful. It nests in a hole in a tree or bank, laying in May two or three eggs very thickly speckled with red spots.

The grey-headed flycatcher (_Culicicapa ceylonensis_) is a bird of somewhat sombre plumage. Its total length is only five inches, and of this half is composed of tail. The head is ashy grey, the back and wings are greenish; the lower plumage is bright yellow, but this is not conspicuous except when the bird is on the wing. This flycatcher has a loud song, which may be syllabised: _Think of me.... Never to be_.

The white-browed fantail-flycatcher (_Rhipidura albifrontata_), which delights the inhabitants of Madras with its cheerful whistle of five or six notes, occurs on the Nilgiris, but is there largely replaced by an allied species--the white-spotted fantail-flycatcher (_R. pectoralis_). The latter has all the habits of the former. Both make the same melody, and each has the habit of spreading out and erecting the tail whenever it settles on a perch after a flight. The white-spotted is distinguishable from the white-browed species by the white eyebrow being much narrower and less conspicuous. It is a black bird with a white abdomen, some white in the wings and tail, a few white spots on the chin, and the white eyebrow mentioned above.