Garrulax moniliger (_Hodgs.) Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 40; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 413.
Of the Necklaced Laughing-Thrush Dr. Jerdon says:--"I procured both
this and the last (the Black-gorgeted Laughing-Thrush) at Darjeeling,
and have also seen one or both in Sylhet, Cachar, and Upper Burmah.
They both associate in large flocks, and frequent more open forest
than most of the previous species. The eggs are greenish blue."
From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"In the first week of June I found a
nest in low jungle, at 2000 feet, containing four greenish-blue eggs,
but, as I did not see the bird, left it until my return a week later.
I then saw the female, but in the interval the young had been hatched.
The nest closely resembled that of _D. caerulatus_ [p. 46], both in
shape and composition, and was similarly situated between several
upright slender shoots to which it was firmly attached. It was,
however, within five feet of the ground, which is lower by 5 feet or
so than _D. caerulatus_ generally builds.
"I have found this species breeding from April to June, up to
elevations not much exceeding 2500 feet. It affects the low, dense
scrub growing in moist situations, and usually fixes its nest between
several upright sprays, within 5 or 6 feet of the ground. The nest
is cup-shaped, made of dry bamboo-leaves, intermixed with a very few
pieces of climber-stems, and thickly lined with old leaf-stalks of
some pinnate-leaved tree. Externally it measures about 5·5 inches in
diameter by 4 in height; internally 3·5 by 2·75.
"The eggs are four or five in number."
Mr. Oates writes:--"On the 27th April I shot a female in the Pegu
Hills off her nest. This latter contained one young one, and one
deformed egg, which unfortunately got broken; colour a deep blue.
The nest was placed in a small seedling bamboo about 6 feet from the
ground at a joint where a number of small twigs shot out, inverted
umbrella fashion. The nest in every respect closely resembled that of
_G. pectoralis_."
He subsequently remarked:--"Breeds in Lower Pegu chiefly in July.
Average of six eggs, 1·16 by ·88; colour, very glossy deep blue.
Nest placed in forks of saplings within reach of the hand, massive,
cup-shaped, and made of dead leaves and small branches; lined with
fine twigs. Outside diameter 7 inches and depth 4; interior 4¼ by 2."
A nest found below Darjeeling in the first week of June on the branch
of a good-sized tree, at a height of 12 feet from the ground, was
similar to that described by Mr. Gammie, and contained a single fresh
egg. This is a moderately broad oval, somewhat pointed towards the
small end, and exhibits very little gloss. It is of precisely the same
colour as those of the preceding species, but measures only 1·2 in
length by 0·9 in breadth.
Writing from Tenasserim, Major C.T. Bingham says:--"Between the 25th
March and 28th April I found at least twenty nests of this bird. They
were broad, shallow cups of roots and twigs, lined with fine black
grass-roots, and placed at heights varying from 4 to 10 feet above
the ground, invariably in the forks of low bamboo. The number of eggs
varied from 3 to 5; blue in colour, and fairly glossy."
Numerous nests from Sikhim, Pegu, and Tenasserim are all of precisely
the same type as described by Mr. Gammie; but some are fully 7 inches
in external diameter, and in several the cavity is at least 4 inches
in diameter.
The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie vary very much in size
and shape, and somewhat in colour. Some are considerably elongated
ovals, with a marked pyriform tendency. Others are particularly broad
ovals for this class of egg. The shell is fine and compact, and as a
rule they seem to have a fine gloss; but one or two specimens almost
want this. In colour they are a pale, clear, slightly greenish blue,
unspotted and unmarked. In length they vary from 1·01 to 1·13, and in
breadth from 0·81 to 0·9, but the average of thirteen is 1·07 by 0·85.
76. Garrulax albigularis (Gould). _The White-throated
Laughing-Thrush_.
Garrulax albogularis (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p, 38; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 411.
The White-throated Laughing-Thrush breeds throughout the lower
southern ranges of the Himalayas from Assam to Afghanistan at
elevations of from 4000 to nearly 8000 feet. They lay from the
commencement of April to the end of June. The nest varies in shape
from a moderately deep cup to a broad shallow saucer, and from 5 to 7
or even 8 inches in external diameter, and from less than 2 to nearly
4 inches in depth internally. Coarse grass, flags, creepers, dead
leaves, moss, moss- and grass-roots, all at times enter more or less
largely into the composition of the nest, which, though sometimes
wholly unlined, is often neatly cushioned with red and black fern and
moss-roots. The nests are placed in small bushes, shrubs, or trees, at
heights of from 3 to 10 feet, sometimes in forks, but more often,
I think, on low horizontal branches, between two or three upright
shoots.
Three is, I think, the regular complement of eggs, and this is the
number I have always found when the eggs were much incubated. I have
not myself observed that this species breeds in company, nor can I
ever remember to have taken two nests within 100 yards of each other.
Captain Hutton remarks:--"This is very common in Mussoorie at all
seasons, and congregates into large and noisy flocks, turning up the
dead leaves, and screaming and chattering together in most discordant
concert. It breeds in April and May, placing the nest in the forks of
young oaks and other trees, about 7 or 8 feet from the ground,
though sometimes higher, and fastening the sides of it firmly to the
supporting twigs by tendrils of climbing-plants. It is sometimes
composed externally almost entirely of such woody tendrils, intermixed
with a few other twigs, and lined with black hair-like fibres of
mosses and lichens; at other times it is externally composed of coarse
dry grasses and leaves of different kinds of orchids, and lined with
fibres, the materials varying with the locality. The eggs are of a
deep and beautiful green, shining as if recently varnished, and three
in number. In shape they taper somewhat suddenly to the smaller end,
which may almost be termed obtusely pointed. The size 1·19 by 0·87
inch. The usual number of eggs is three, though sometimes only one or
two are found; but only on one occasion out of more than a dozen nests
have I found four eggs. The old bird will remain on the nest until
within reach of the hand."
From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall writes:--"This was the most
beautiful egg taken this season, being of a rich, deep, glossy,
greenish-blue colour. The nest is composed of fresh ivy-twigs, with
the leaves attached, tightly woven together. The birds breed on small
trees, not high up, at the end of a branch. While their nests were
being examined, they came round in flocks to see what was happening,
chattering and making that peculiar laughing note from which this
genus takes its name. They are even gregarious in the breeding-season,
and all the nests were found pretty near each other about 6000 feet
up."
The nest sent me by Colonel Marshall is a broad, shallow cup, or
saucer as I should perhaps call it, some 6 inches in diameter, with
a central depression of at most 1·5 inch, below which the nest is
an inch or 1·5 in thickness. It is very loosely put together, and
composed interiorly of moderately fine dry twigs and roots, but
exteriorly it is completely wound round with slender green ivy-twigs
to which the leaves are attached. It has no lining or pretence for
such.
Captain Cock says:--"The White-throated Laughing-Thrush lays one of
the most lovely eggs with which I am acquainted. The nest is usually
low, never more than 10 feet or so from the ground; and of some
fifteen or more nests that I have taken, all were constructed of long
stalks of the ground-ivy, twisted round and round into a wreath. The
nest is not a deep cup; if anything it is rather shallow, but it
is very wide. I always found these nests in thick forest, at high
elevations from 6000 to 7000 feet. The birds used to sit close, and
when put off their nests would commence their outcries, and from all
parts they would assemble and flit about almost within reach of one's
hand, making an awful noise, and in the dark shade of the forest their
white gorgets had quite a ghostly look. The eggs are always three in
number, of a beautiful shining blue-green, sometimes of a very long
oval type. I have found the nests at Murree from the 3rd May to quite
the end of June."
Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writing of this species says:--"A nest found
at Nynee Tal on Ayar Pata, about 7000 feet above the sea, contained
two fresh eggs on the 31st May. The eggs were of a rich deep greenish
blue, unspotted. The nest was a scanty and loosely-built structure,
composed of roots and stems of grass and creepers, cup-shaped, rather
shallow, and lined with a curious black creeper, very like coarse
hair. The birds were gregarious even though breeding, and were moving
about the underwood in parties of three to five. The nest was near the
top of an oak-sapling in a dense coppice, placed close against the
stem in a bunch of leaves at the top. The only difficulty in finding
it lay in the scantiness of the structure rather than in the
concealment by the foliage. The bird was on the nest and only moved
off about 3 feet, sitting close by and chattering indignantly during
my inspection. They are noisy birds, constantly on the move, and
their notes, though rather harsh, are very varied and quite
_conversational_."
The eggs are long, and pointed at the small end, to which they
sometimes taper much. They are very glossy, and vary from a deep dull
blue (the blue of a dark oil-paint, very much deeper than that of any
other of the Crateropodinae with which I am acquainted) to a deep
intense greenish blue. Possibly other as deeply coloured eggs occur
in this family, but I have seen none like them. They are of course
entirely unspotted.
In length they vary from 1·16 to 1·25, and in breadth from 0·8 to
0·86; but the average of some twenty eggs measured is 1·22 by 0·83.
78. Ianthocincla ocellata (Vig.). _The White-spotted
Laughing-Thrush_.
Garrulax ocellatus (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 41; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 414.
I know nothing personally of the nidification of the White-spotted
Laughing-Thrush, which breeds nowhere, so far as I know, west
of Nepal, but I had a nest with a couple of eggs and one of the
parent-birds sent me from Darjeeling. The nest was taken in May in one
of the low warm valleys leading to the Great Runjeet, and is said to
have been placed close to the ground in a thick clump of fern and
grass. The nest is chiefly composed of these, intermingled with moss
and roots, and is a large loose structure some 7 inches in diameter.
Mr. Blyth remarked in 'The Ibis' (1867) that this species was "surely
a _Trochalopteron_ rather than a _Garrulax_," and the eggs seem to
confirm this view. These are long, cylindrical ovals, very obtuse even
at the smaller end. They are about the same size as those of _Garrulax
albigularis_, with a very delicate pale blue ground and little or no
gloss. One egg is spotless; the other has a few chocolate-brown specks
or spots towards the large end. They measure 1·18 by 0·86 and 1·25 by
0·85.
80. Ianthocincla rufigularis, Gould. _The Rufous-chinned
Laughing-Thrush_.
Trochalopteron rufogulare (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 47; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 421.
Common as this species is about Simla, I have never yet secured the
nest, and know nothing certain about the eggs.
Captain Hutton says:--"This species appears usually in pairs,
sometimes in a family of four or five. It breeds in May, in which
month I took a nest, at about 6500 feet elevation, in a retired and
wooded glen; it was composed of small twigs externally and lined with
the fine black fibres of lichens. The nest was placed on a horizontal
bough, about 7 feet from the ground, and contained three pure white
eggs. Size 1·12 by 0·69; shape ordinary. The stomach of the old bird
contained sand, seed, and the remains of wasps."
One egg that I possess of this species I owe to Captain Hutton, and
it is of the _Pomatorhinus_ type--a long oval, slightly pointed pure
white egg, with but little gloss, measuring 1·08 by 0·75.
From Sikhim a nest, said to belong to this species, has been recently
sent me. It was found below Darjeeling in July, and was placed in
a double fork of the branchlets of a medium-sized tree. It is a
moderately deep cup, composed almost entirely of dry, coarser and
finer, tendrils of creepers, and is lined with a some black moss-roots
and a few scraps of dead leaves. It contained three fresh eggs.
Numerous nests of this species subsequently sent me from Sikhim are
all of the same type, all moderately deep cups composed entirely of
creeper-tendrils, the cavity only being lined with fine black roots.
They appear from the specimens before me to be quite _sui generis_ and
unlike those of any of its congeners. No grass, no dead leaves, no
moss seems to be employed; nothing but the tendrils of some creeper.
The nests appear to be always placed at the fork, where three, four,
or more shoots diverge, and to be generally more or less like inverted
cones, measuring say 4 to 5 inches in height, and about the same in
breadth at the top, while the cavities are about 3 inches in diameter
and 1·5 to 2 in depth. The nests appear to have been found at very
varying heights from the ground from 5 to 15 feet, and at elevations
of from 3000 to 5000 feet. They appear to have contained three fresh
or more or less incubated eggs.
The eggs were found in Sikhim on different dates between 25th May and
8th September.
Exceptional as the coloration of the eggs of this species may seem,
there is no doubt that they are pure white. The shell is thin and
fragile, but has generally a decided gloss, and the eggs are
typically elongated ovals, obtuse-ended, and more or less pyriform or
cylindrical. The eggs vary from 0·92 to 1·13 in length, and from 0·75
to 0·8 in breadth, but the average of eleven eggs is 1·06 by 0·77
nearly.
82. Trochalopterum erythrocephalum (Vig.). _The Red-headed
Laughing-Thrush_.
Trochalopteron erythrocephalum (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 43;
_Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 415.
From Kumaon westwards, at any rate as far as the valley of the Beas,
the Red-headed Laughing-Thrush is, next to _T. lineatum_, the most
common species of the genus. It lays in May and June, at elevations of
from 4000 to 7000 feet, building on low branches of trees, at a height
of from 3 to 10 feet from, the ground.
The nests are composed chiefly of dead leaves bound round into a deep
cup with delicate fronds of ferns and coarse and fine grass, the
cavities being scantily lined with fine grass and moss-roots. It is
difficult by any description to convey an adequate idea of the beauty
of some of these nests--the deep red-brown of the withered ferns,
the black of the grass- and moss-roots, the pale yellow of the broad
flaggy grass, and the straw-yellow of some of the finer grass-stems,
all blended together into an artistic wreath, in the centre of which
the beautiful sky-blue and maroon-spotted eggs repose. Externally the
nests may average about 6 inches in diameter, but the egg-cavity is
comparatively large and very regular, measuring about 3½ inches across
and fully 2¼ inches in depth. Some nests of course are less regular
and artistic in their appearance, but, as a rule, those of this
species are particularly beautiful.
The eggs vary from two to four in number.