Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/191

Rh in May but others also in late April and throughout June. The nest is a typical Laughing-Thrush's nest, a large, shallow and rather untidy cup, but more tendrils are used in its construction than I have noticed in the nests of others of the genus. It is generally built in dense forest, and may be placed in bushes or in saplings between 3 and 20 feet from the ground. The eggs are two or three in number, rather long ovals, more smooth and glossy than the eggs of most of its genus, but less so than those of Dryonastes ruficollis etc. They vary in colour from pure white to pale blue-green, and 100 eggs average 29·2 × 20·5 mm. The extremes in measurement are 31·0 × 19·8; 29·0 × 21·7; 25·5 × 19·6 and 27·8 × 19·2 mm.

Habits. This is a Laughing-Thrush of rather high elevations, seldom under 3,500 and hardly ever below 2,000 feet, even in winter, though a straggler was obtained at Lakhimpur in Cachar, practically in the plains. It is a less noisy, less gregarious bird than many of its nearest relations and keeps much to dense forest rather than to scrub. It has a loud, rather sweet whistle in addition to the usual cackling notes of its kind.


 * Ianthocincla albogularis Gould, P. Z. S., 1835, p. 187 (Nepal).
 * Garrulax albogularis. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 82.

Vernacular names. Karriam-pho (Lepcha).

Description. Forehead fulvous; lores and feathers above and below eye black; cheeks, chin and throat white; upper plumage rich olive-brown, tinged with fulvous on the crown and ear-coverts and rusty on the upper tail-coverts; wings brown, edged with the colour of the back; tail olive-brown, the four outer pairs of feathers very broadly tipped with white; sides of neck and a broad pectoral band olive-brown; remainder of lower plumage bright ferruginous.

Colours of soft parts. Bill black or dull black, inside of mouth yellow; legs, feet and claws pale fleshy plumbeous to darker livid plumbeous; iris greyish blue.

Measurements. Length about 300 to 310 mm.; wing 123 to 133 mm., average 128 mm.; tail 140 to 145 mm.; tarsus about 43 mm.; culmen about 25 mm.

Distribution. Nepal and Sikkim, but not in Bhutan or Assam, except twice in the Barail Range in N. Cachar.

Nidification. The only nest recorded is one taken by myself in N. Cachar. Neither nest nor eggs differ in any way from those of the next and better known form.

Habits. Similar to those of the next bird.