Birds of the Indian Hills Part 7

Brown above, pale yellow below. Chin and throat white. Back of neck rusty yellow. This colour is continued in a demi-collar round the sides of the neck. Common about Darjeeling.

27. _Yuhina gularis_. The striped-throated yuhina. Another tiny bird with all the habits of the t.i.ts. A flock of dull-brown birds, about the size of sparrows, having the chin and throat streaked with black, are likely to be striped-throated yuhinas.

28. _Minla igneitincta_. The red-tailed minla or hill-t.i.t. This t.i.t-like babbler is often seen in company with the true t.i.ts, which it resembles in habits and size. The head is black with a white eyebrow.

The wings and tail are black and crimson. The rest of the upper plumage is yellowish olive. The throat is white, and the remainder of the lower plumage is bright yellow.

NOTE ON THE t.i.tS AND SMALL BABBLERS

t.i.ts are small birds, smaller than sparrows, which usually go about in flocks. They spend most of their lives in trees. In seeking for insects, on which they feed largely, they often hang upside down from a branch. All t.i.ts have these habits; but all birds of these habits are not t.i.ts. Thus the following of the babblers described above have all the habits of t.i.ts: the white-eye, the black-throated babbler, the red-headed babbler, the blue-winged siva, the yellow-naped ixulus, the striped-throated yuhina, and the red-tailed minla.

The above are all birds of distinctive colouring and may be easily distinguished.

Other small birds which are neither t.i.ts nor babblers go about in flocks, as, for example, nuthatches, but these other birds differ in shape and habits from babblers and t.i.ts, so that no one is likely to confound them with the smaller Corvidae or Crateropodidae.

29. _Molpastes leucogenys_. The white-cheeked bulbul. Common below elevations of 5000 feet.

30. _Hypsipetes psaroides_. The Himalayan black bulbul. Not very common.

31. _Alcurus striatus_. The striated green bulbul. Upper plumage olive-green with yellow streaks. Cheeks dark brown, streaked with pale yellow. Chin and throat yellow, with dark spots on throat. Patch under tail bright yellow.

Striated green bulbuls go about in flocks which keep to the tops of trees. They utter a mellow warbling note. They are abundant about Darjeeling.

THE SITTIDae OR NUTHATCH FAMILY

32. _Sitta himalayensis_. Very abundant in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling.

THE DICRURIDae OR DRONGO FAMILY

33. _Dicrurus longicaudatus_. The Indian Ashy Drongo.

THE CERTHIIDae OR WREN FAMILY

34. _Certhia discolor_. The Sikhim tree-creeper. This species displaces the Himalayan tree-creeper in the Eastern Himalayas. The two species are similar in appearance.

35. _Pneopyga squamata_. The scaly-breasted wren. In shape and size this is very like the wren of England, but its upper plumage is not barred with black, as in the English species.

It is fairly common about Darjeeling, but is of retiring habits.

THE SYLVIIDae OR WARBLER FAMILY

36. _Abrornis superciliaris_. The yellow-bellied flycatcher-warbler.

A tiny bird about the size of a wren. The head is grey and the remainder of the upper plumage brownish yellow. The eyebrow is white, as are the chin, throat, and upper breast: the remainder of the lower plumage is bright yellow.

37. _Suya atrigularis_. The black-throated hill-warbler. The upper plumage is olive brown, darkest on the head. The chin, throat, breast, and upper abdomen are black.

THE LANIIDae OR SHRIKE FAMILY

38. _Lanius tephronotus_. The grey-backed shrike.

39. _Pericrocotus brevirostris_. The short-billed minivet. Very common about Darjeeling.

40. _Campophaga melanoschista_. The dark-grey cuckoo-shrike.

Plumage is dark grey, wings black, tail black tipped with white.

Rather larger than a bulbul. Cuckoo-shrikes keep to trees, and rarely, if ever, descend to the ground.

THE MUSCICAPIDae OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY

Of the common flycatchers of the Western Himalayas, the following occur in the Eastern Himalayas:

41. _Stoparola melanops_. The verditer flycatcher. Very common at Darjeeling.

42. _Cyornis superciliaris_. The white-browed blue-flycatcher.

43. _Alseonax latirostris_. The brown flycatcher. Not very common.

44. _Niltava sundara_. The rufous-bellied niltava. Very abundant at Darjeeling. In addition to the rufous-bellied niltava, two other niltavas occur in the Eastern Himalayas.

45. _Niltava grandis_. The large niltava. This may be readily distinguished on account of its comparatively large size. It is as large as a bulbul. It is very common about Darjeeling.

46. _Niltava macgrigoriae_. The small niltava. This is considerably smaller than a sparrow and does not occur above 5000 feet.

47. _Terpsiphone affinis_. The Burmese paradise flycatcher. This replaces the Indian species in the Eastern Himalayas, but it is not found so high up as Darjeeling, being confined to the lower ranges.

The other flycatchers commonly seen in the Eastern Himalayas are:

48. _Rhipidura allicollis_. The white-throated fantail flycatcher.

This beautiful bird is abundant in the vicinity of Darjeeling. It is a black bird, with a white eyebrow, a whitish throat, and white tips to the outer tail feathers. It is easily recognised by its cheerful song and the way in which it pirouettes among the foliage and spreads its tail into a fan.

49. _Hemichelidon sibirica_. The sooty flycatcher. This is a tiny bird of dull brown hue which, as Jerdon says, has very much the aspect of a swallow.

50. _Hemichelidon ferruginea_. The ferruginous flycatcher. A rusty-brown bird (the rusty hue being most p.r.o.nounced in the rump and tail) with a white throat.

51. _Cyornis rubeculoides_. The blue-throated flycatcher. The c.o.c.k is a blue bird with a red breast. There is some black on the cheeks and in the wings.

The hen is a brown bird tinged with red on the breast. This species, which is smaller than a sparrow, keeps mainly to the lower branches of trees.

52. _Anthipes moniliger_. Hodgson's white-gorgeted flycatcher. A small reddish-brown bird with a white chin and throat surrounded by a black band, that sits on a low branch and makes occasional sallies into the air after insects, can be none other than this flycatcher.