Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/174

136 Subfamily TIMALIINÆ. This subfamily, as now constituted, contains Oates's Crateropodinæ and the Timaliinæ, which I find quite impossible to differentiate by any satisfactory character one from the other.

The great majority of the Timaliinæ are very gregarious and go about in flocks of considerable size, a few consort in small flocks, whilst fewer still are only found singly or in pairs. They feed principally on the ground or in bushes and long grass close to it, but some of them also haunt trees in their quest for the insects which form their main diet. Some of the genera comprise birds as noisy as any known, whilst others are birds with sweet notes or are silent. The most prominent characteristics are the very powerful legs and the weak, rounded wings. The head is frequently fully crested, and is generally covered with somewhat erectile feathers even where there is no definite crest. The bill is of almost every conceivable shape. In habits they are non-migratory, though some of the hill forms move up and down the hills under climatic stress and, whilst some species are very bold and haunt freely the vicinity of villages, others are among the most shy.

In the following key an attempt has been made to discriminate between the genera in a way which will be easy for the field naturalist to work out; size and plainly visible features in construction being made use of.

Key to Genera.