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The Burmese Whistling-Thrush.

Myiophoneus eugenei, Hume, S. F. i, p. 475 (1873), iii, p. 106, v, p. 113, note; Hume & Dav. S. F. vi, p. 236; Hume, Cat. no. 343 bis ;Bingham, S. F. ix, p. 176 ; Oates, S. F. x, p. 204 ; id. B. B. i, p. 17 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 9; Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. (2) v, p. 610; Oates in Hume's N. & E. 2nd ed. i, p. 123.

Coloration. Resembles M. temmincki. Differs in having the median upper wing-coverts without the conspicuous white tips of that species, and in having a bill much larger and with less black on the upper mandible.

Bill orange-yellow, the region of the nostrils and a portion of the culmen dark brown ; mouth yellow; iris umber-brown; eyelids straw-yellow; legs black.

Length about 13.5; tail 5.5; wing 7; tarsus 2.3; bill from gape 1.7.

Distribution. The whole of Pegu east of the Irrawaddy river ; the Karen hills ; Karennee; the pine-forests of the Salween river; the central portion of Tenasserim, and the Thoungyeen valley; extending into Siam.

Habits, &c. Like the preceding species, the present bird is found in rocky streams as a rule, but Mr. Fea procured the only specimen that he observed in Tenasserim near the Farm Caves of Moulmein. Bingham got the nest in April in the Thoungyeen valley. It was made of green moss and black roots and fibres, and was placed on a dead tree which had been caught by rocks in the river-bed. The eggs were of a pale stone-colour, spotted with reddish brown, and measured about 1.48 by 1.02.

The Himalayan Whistling-Thrush.

Coloration. Lores and base of forehead black, the forehead higher up bright cobalt-blue ; the whole plumage blue, each feather tipped with glistening blue; wings and tail overlaid with cobalt-blue on the outer webs ; lesser wing-coverts black, with broad margins of glistening cobalt-blue ; median wing-coverts tipped with white.

The young have the upper plumage and wings dull blue without the glistening tips ; the whole lower plumage dull black; tail like that of the adult.

Bill yellow, the culmen and the base of the upper mandible blackish; iris brown; feet and claws black.

Length about 13.5; tail 5.5; wing 7; tarsus 2.1; bill from gape 1.6.

Distribution. The Himalayas from the Hazara country and Gilgit to the Daphla hills in Assam; the hill-ranges south of Assam; Cachar; Manipur; Arrakan, and probably the whole country west of the Irrawaddy river; Karennee and the Karen hills, where this is found together with the next species. This bird also extends into Afghanistan and Turkestan.

In summer this species is found up to 11,000 feet, hut in winter it descends to lower levels and even to the plains. In Cachar it is said to be merely a winter visitor.

Habits, &c. This species frequents hill-streams and torrents, perching on rocks and snags and feeding largely on snails, the shells of which are frequently found accumulated on the ground where the bird has been in the habit of breaking them up. It has a loud and pretty whistling note. It breeds from April to June, constructing a massive cup-shaped nest of roots and moss in a crevice of a rock or in the root of some up-turned tree in the river-bed near or under a waterfall, and laying from three to five eggs, which are pale grey or green, speckled with pink and brown. The eggs measure 1.42 by 1.

Str. F. 1873, p. 475 ; id. andOates, Str. F. 1874, p. 106; id. and Dav., Str. F. 1878, vol. i. p. 236 ; id., Str. F. 1879, p. 93; Oates, B. Brit. Burm. p. 17. -

The Burmese Whistling-Thrush.
 

Like M. Temminckii, but without the white spots at the tips of the wing coverts, which are glistening dull blue like the rest of the upper surface. Bill orange yellow ; region of the nostrils and portion of the culmen dark brown; iris umber brown ; eyelids straw yellow ; legs black.

Length. - 13 to 13.5 inches; culmen 1.4; wings 6.7; tail 4.9; tarsus, 2.1..

Hab. - Hills of Tenasserim and Pegu to the eastward of the Irrawaddy rivers extending to the Karen hills, where M. Temminckii is also found. Oates says it is found in the whole of Pegu, east of the Irrawaddy, wherever there are rocky nullahs. Captain Wardlaw-Ramsay observed it in the Karen hills. According to Davison, he adds, it is confined in Tenasserim to the hills and isolated limestone rocks of the northern and central portions only. Captain Bingham records it from the Thoungyeen Valley, and it is said to occur also in Siam. It is said by Oates to be abundant in rocky hill streams, going about singly or in couples, and to feed largely on land-shells, which it breaks to pieces against rocks in the nullah. He quotes Captain Bingham's account of the nesting of this beautiful thrush, which is to the effect that " on a frail and tottering foundation, as collected pieces of wood, leaves and other floating matter jammed in by force of water between a dam formed by a small tree which had drifted down a stream, and rising some six inches above the water, was placed a round, solid nest about nine inches in diameter, made of green moss and lined with fine black roots and fibres, in which lay four fresh eggs of a pale stone colour, sparsely spotted, especially at the larger end, with minute specks of reddish brown." Captain Bingham saw a pair of the birds and one of the parents sit on the eggs in the nest. In shape the eggs are said to be somewhatlike those of a Pitta, and measure 2.45 x 1.02, 1.50 x 1.02, 1.46 x 1.01, and 1.50 x 1.01.

P. z. S. 1831, p. 171; Gould, Cent. Him, B. Pl. 21 ; Tem. Pl. Col. ii. livr. 29; Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 154; Bp. Consp, i. p. 258; Jerd., B. Ind. i. p. 500; Hume and Hend., Lahore to Yarkand, p. 187 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. B. p. 221 ; Hume and Oates, Str. F. 1874, p. 105 ; Hume, Str. F. 1874, p. 331 ; Bl. and Wald. B. Burm. p. 98 ; Godw-Aust., J. A. S. B. xlv. p. 72 ; Hume, Str. F. 1877, p. 30 ; id. and Dav., Str. F. 1878, p. 236; Hume, Str. F. 1879^. 93 ; Scully, t. c. p. 281 ; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 52 ; C. Swinhoe, t. c. p. 105 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm, i. p. 18. -

The Himalayan Whistling Thrush.

PLATE, figs. 1, 2, 3.

Above blue black, each feather tipped with glistening bright or glossy blue; lower back and rump rather ashy black, the feathers with concealed white shaft streaks ; lesser wing coverts brilliant purplish blue, forming a shoulder spot; remainder of wing coverts black, washed with blue on the outer webs, the median coverts tipped with white; quills blackish, margined on their outer web with purplish blue; tail feathers the same; base of forehead and lores black; forepart of crown with a band of bright purplish blue; sides of face and ear coverts black, very narrowly streaked with silvery grey ; under surface of body purplish black, the feathers mesially tipped with a spot of silvery grey; abdomen, thighs, vent and under tail coverts purplish black ; under wing coverts and axillaries dingy black, slightly washed with purplish blue. Bill dull yellow; the culmen and the base of the upper mandible- blackish ; feet black ; irides rich brown.

Length. - 12 to 13.5 inches; wing 6.8 to 7; tail 5.5 to 6.4; culmen 1.4; from gape 1. 55 ; tarsus 1.9.

The young are uniform dull blue black above and below, and want the glistening spots, and the white spots on the wing coverts.

Hab. - Turkestan, Afghanistan, throughout the whole of the Himalayas from Cashmere to Bhootan, extending to Siam and the Arrakan and Karen hills, in Burmah as far south as Thayetmyo. It is recorded by Sharpe (Br. Mus. Cat.) from Kandahar, Afghanistan, Peshawur, Cashmere, N. W. Himalayas, Kumaon, Nepaul, Darjeeling, Upper Assam, Bhootan, and the Arrakan hills ; and, according to Oates, the spurs of the latter nearly down to the Irrawaddy. Capt. Wardlaw-Ramsay procured it in the Karen hills. It is said to be resident wherever it occurs. Hume says it breeds throughout the Himalayas from Assam to Afghanistan in shady ravines and wooded glens from an elevation of 2,000 to 5,000 feet, but at times, especially far into the interior of the hills, up to even 10,000 feet. They lay during the last week of April and during May and June. Eggs 3 - 5. The nest, according to the same writer, is almost invariably placed in the closest proximity to some mountain stream, on the rocks and boulders of which, the male so loves to warble, and sometimes on a mossy bank; sometimes in some rocky crevice hidden amongst drooping maiden hair. Safety is always the aim of the parent bird in choosing the site for the nest. Hume records Darjeeling as a place where nests were taken, also Kumaon, Mussoorie and Dhurrumsala. Eggs, French grey, greyish white or pale greenish, speckled or freckled with minute pink, pale purplish pink or pinkish brown specks. In length they vary from 1.24 to 1.55 inch and in breadth from 0.95 to 1.1 inch. (Hume.)

Gracula caerulea Scop., Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr., vol. ii, p. 88 No. 42, 1786, ex Sonn.: China.)

Myiophoneus eugenei Hume, Str. Feath., vol. i, p. 475,1873 : Pegu.

Myophonus temminckii Vigors, P. Z. S., 1830-31, p. 171, Mch. 2, 1832 : Himalayas: Gould, Century of Birds, pl. xxi.

Myophoneus tibetanus Madarasz, Ibis, 1866, p. 145 : Central Tibet.