The WHITE-TUFTED LAUGHING THRUSH (_Garrulax leucolophus_) is a large
bird, about twelve inches long and fifteen and a half broad; its wing
and tail both measure five inches. The head--with the exception of
the black cheek-stripes--the nape, throat, and breast are pure white,
shaded with grey upon the sides; the rest of the plumage is of a reddish
olive-brown, deepest in shade on the inner web of the quills and
tail-feathers. All the wooded tracts of the Himalayas afford shelter to
large numbers of these remarkable birds, and resound with their most
peculiar cry, which so closely resembles a hideous laugh as to startle,
and, indeed, positively to terrify such as hear it for the first time.
Insects, snails, worms, and berries afford them their principal means of
subsistence; the former are sought for on the ground or in the foliage,
and the latter are gathered from the branches as they hang suspended from
the trees. The nest is a mere mass of roots, moss, and grass, placed in
a thick bush. The eggs are few in number, and have a pure white shell.
Frith gives us an interesting account of the manner in which a very
similar species, the CHINESE LAUGHING THRUSH (_Garrulax Chinensis_),
kills and devours its prey. "This bird," he tells us, "seized a snake
about a foot long that was put into its cage, struck it against the
ground, bored its head repeatedly with its bill, and then proceeded to
eat it, holding the body firmly with his foot whilst he tore it into
pieces. Large beetles he treated in a similar manner, and, previous to
snapping up a wasp or a bee, always allowed his intended victim to drive
its sting repeatedly into his expanded tail; small pieces of cooked flesh
he placed between the bars of his cage before proceeding to devour them."
* * * * *
The WATER OUZELS (_Cinclus_) constitute a group whose members, though
closely allied to the Thrushes, have been separated from them on account
of certain peculiarities by which they are distinguished. They all
have slender bodies, which, however, appear stout, owing to the great
thickness of the plumage; delicate, almost straight beaks, compressed at
the sides and narrow towards the tip; the nostrils are closed by a fold
of skin; the feet are high and strong, the toes long, and armed with
very hooked and strong claws; the wing is unusually short, much rounded,
and almost as broad as it is long; the tail-feathers, which are broad
and slightly rounded at the extremity, are so short as to be little more
than stumps. The thick, soft plumage is totally unlike that possessed
by any other land birds, being furnished with an undergrowth of downy
feathers. The Water Ouzels are met with in all parts of the world, but
are especially numerous in northern countries; they are also occasionally
seen in the Himalayas, Andes, and other tropical mountain ranges.