[Footnote A: In the 'Birds of India,' I have united _C. malabaricus_
and _C. terricolor_. Mr. Hume probably still considers these two
races distinct, and others may agree with him. To avoid confusion,
therefore, I have kept the notes appertaining to these two races
distinct from each other.--ED.]
Malacocercus terricolor (_Hodgs._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p.
59; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 432.
Malacocercus malabaricus, _Jerd., Jerd. t.c._ p. 62; _Hume,
t.c._ no. 434.
_C. terricolor_.
The Bengal Babbler breeds throughout the plains of the Bengal
Presidency (including Bengal, North-Western Provinces, Central
Provinces, Oudh, and the Punjab), and I may add in the less desert
portions of Sindh, although the race found in that province is not
exactly identical with the Bengal bird, and in some respects closely
approaches the Malabar race. In Northern Rajpootana it is rare, and
further south in the quasi-desert tracts of Central and Western
Rajpootana it disappears according to my experience.
Eastward in Cachar and Assam it appears to occur as a mere straggler,
but I have no record of its having bred there. It lays from the latter
half of March until the close of July, but the great majority lay
during the first week after the setting in of the rains, which varies
according to locality and season, from the 1st of June to the 15th of
July.
They build very commonly in gardens, in thick orange-, citron-, or
lime-shrubs, but their nests may be found almost anywhere, in thick
shrubs or small trees of any kind, or in thick hedges, at heights of
from 4 to 10 feet from the ground, always placed in some fork
towards the centre of the shrub or hedge. The nests are rather
loosely-put-together cups, composed of grass-stems and roots varying
in fineness, and often lined with horse-hair. Some are deep and neatly
constructed, others loose, straggling, and shallow, the cavity varying
from 3 to more than 4 inches in diameter and from less than 2 to
nearly 3 inches in depth.
Three is the normal number of the eggs, but I have repeatedly found
four.
Captain Hutton writes to me:--"A nest of this bird was taken in the
Dehra Dhoon on the 14th May, and was composed entirely of fine roots,
the thinnest being placed within as a lining. Subsequently three
others were procured, one of which was externally composed of coarse
dry grasses and leaves, with a scanty lining of fine roots; the other
two were constructed of the fine woody tendrils of climbing-plants
and lined like the others with fine roots. These latter had a strong
resemblance to some of the nests of _Garrulax albogularis_, while the
difference exhibited in the nature of the materials used arises from
the various character of the localities in which the bird may choose
to build. Each nest contained four beautiful eggs of a full bright
turquoise-green, shining as if varnished. The eggs were nearly all
hard-set. This species does not ascend the hills, but appears to
be confined to the Dhoon, where it may be seen in small parties in
gardens, hedgerows, and low brushwood, turning over the dead leaves in
search of seeds and insects. Its flight is low, short, and apparently
laboured, from the shortness and rounded form of the wing, but on the
ground it hops along with speed. The note is clamorous and chuckling
and uttered in concert."
The late Mr. A. Anderson remarked:--"Although one of the most common
birds in the North-West Provinces, and in fact verging on a nuisance,
its nidification is interesting, inasmuch as its nest (in common
with that of _A. malcolmi_) is used as a nursery for the young of
_Hierococcyx varius_ and _Coccystes melanoleucus_.
"This Babbler builds, as a general rule, during the early part of the
rains (June to August), laying usually three or four eggs of a bright
greenish-blue colour. The nest itself recalls that of the Blackbird,
but it is frequently very clumsily made. On the 21st June last a boy
brought me a nest of this species containing _eight_ eggs. Two, if not
three, of this clutch are easily separable from the others, being more
oval and somewhat smaller, and are unquestionably parasitical eggs;
but it is quite impossible to say whether they belong to _H. varius_
or _C. melanoleucus_.
"Again, on the 9th July, I took a nest in person, which also contained
eight eggs. Seven of these are all alike and are well incubated, while
the eighth is quite fresh, and doubtless owes its parentage to one of
the above-mentioned Cuckoos.
"Strange to say I have now another nest marked down, which in like
manner contains the same number of callow young. It is just possible
that the foster-parents may have to perform double duty in this case.
"From the foregoing it may be inferred that _M. canorus_ does
occasionally lay more than four eggs, or as the birds are gregarious
even during the breeding-season, it is possible enough that two birds
may occasionally deposit eggs in the same nest.
"I should not think that _H. varius_ (the "Brain-fever and
Delirium-tremens Bird" as it is frequently called) had much difficulty
in depositing her eggs in the nest of the _Malacocerci_, for I have
frequently noticed that all the Babblers in the neighbourhood make a
clean bolt of it immediately this Cuckoo puts in an appearance, no
doubt owing to its great similarity to the Indian Sparrow-Hawk (_M.
badius_).
"During the months of September and October I have observed several
Babblers in the act of feeding one young _H. varius_, following the
bird from tree to tree, and being most assiduous in their attentions
to the young interloper."
Mr. H.M. Adam remarks:--"I took a nest of this bird in Agra on the
17th July. It contained five eggs, all of which were nearly hatched.
Again on the 21st I took another nest containing only one hard-set
egg."
Writing from Calcutta, Mr. J.C. Parker says:--"I found a nest of this
bird, near my house in Garden Reach, on the 23rd June. It contained
four fresh eggs."
Colonel Butler observes:--"The Bengal Babbler breeds in the
neighbourhood of Deesa as a rule, I think, during the rains and in the
cold weather, but I have found nests as late as March. The nest is
usually placed on the outside branch of some moderate-sized tree
(neem &c.). It is a somewhat solidly built structure composed almost
entirely of dead twigs, stems of dead leaves, and stalks of coarse dry
grass, being lined with a few fine fibrous roots or stems of grass. I
found nests on the following dates:--
"July 16, 1875. A nest containing 4 fresh eggs.
"March 20, 1876. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"May 29, 1876. " " 3 fresh eggs.
"June 17, 1876. " " 3 fresh eggs.
"June 17, 1876. " " 4 young birds.
"Oct. 15, 1876. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"Nov. 3, 1876. " " 4 slightly incubated.
"In some nests I have noticed a breach upon one side of the nest as if
intended for the convenience of the bird's tail. It is not unusual to
find an egg of _C. jacobinus_ in the nest."
Major C.T. Bingham writes:--"Common both at Allahabad and at Delhi; I
have found this bird breeding from April to the end of July. All nests
that I have found have, with the exception of one, been placed in low
babool bushes; once only I found a nest near Delhi in the fork of a
low bough of a mango-tree, this was on the 31st July. The nests are
more or less loosely constructed cups of slender twigs and grass-roots
and inclined."
Mr. J.R. Cripps writing from Eastern Bengal says:--"On the 15th April
I found a nest on the very top of a mango-tree about 30 feet off the
ground, shooting the male as it flew off the nest."
The eggs of this species are very variable in colour, shape, and size.
Typically they are rather broad ovals, somewhat compressed towards one
end, and much the shape of, though a good deal smaller than, those
of our English Song-Thrush. Some are, however, long and cylindrical;
others more or less spherical. The colour varies from a pale blue,
like that of _Trochalopterum lineatum_, to a deep dull blue,
recalling, but yet not so dark as, that of _Garrulax albigularis_. The
eggs are typically glossy, but it is remarkable that in a large series
the deepest coloured are always far the most glossy. Some deep blue
eggs of this species are most intensely glossy, more so than almost
any other of our Indian eggs, except those of _Metopidius indicus_. I
need scarcely say that the eggs are entirely spotless and devoid of
all markings, but I may note that each egg is invariably the same
colour throughout, and that I have never met with a specimen in which
the shade of colour varied in the same egg.
In length the eggs vary from 0·88 to 1·15, and in breadth from 0·75 to
0·82; but the average of fifty-one eggs measured is 1·01 by 0·78.
_C. malabaricus_.
The Jungle Babbler, like the White-headed one, breeds pretty well over
the whole of Southern India, but while the latter is chiefly confined
to the more open plain country, the former is the bird of the uplands,
hills, and forests. Still the Jungle Babbler is found at times in the
same localities as the White-headed one, and what is more, specimens
occur, as in Cochin, which partake of the distinctive characters of
both. A great deal still remains to be done in working out properly
this group; both in Sindh on the west and the Tributary Mehals on the
east, and again in some parts of the Nilghiris, races occur quite
intermediate between typical _C. terricolor_ and typical _C.
malabaricus_, while in the south, as already mentioned, forms
intermediate between this latter and _C. griseus_ seem common. Three
distinguishable races again of _C. griseus_ are met with, but running
the one into the other, while intermediate forms between this species
and _C. somervillii_ (Sykes) are also met with.
Mr. Davison remarks:--"This bird seems to be very irregular in its
time of breeding. I have taken the nest in May, June, October, and
December. The nest is rather a loose structure of dry grass and
leaves, lined with fine dry grass; it is generally placed in the
middle of some thick thorny bush, and cannot generally be got at
without paying the penalty of well scratched hands. The eggs,
generally five in number, are of a very deep blue with a tinge of
green, but of not so decided a tinge as in the eggs of _M. griseus_.
It breeds on the slopes of the Nilghiris, not ascending to more than
about 6000 feet."
Mr. Wait, writing from Coonoor, says:--"_C. malabaricus_ builds a
cup-shaped nest in small trees and bushes, and lays from three to five
very round oval verditer-blue eggs."
Captain Horace Terry says of this species:--"Rather rare at Pulungi,
but very common lower down on the slopes and in the Pittur valley. I
got a nest on April 5th at Pulungi with three incubated eggs, and on
the 6th one with two incubated eggs, in the Pittur valley. The last
was built in a hollow in the top of a stump of a tree that had been
broken off some ten feet from the ground."
Mr. I. Macpherson writes from Mysore:--"This bird is occasionally
found with _C. griseus_ in the bigger scrub forests, but its chief
habitat is the larger forests. Its breeding-season is much the same
as _C. griseus_ but unlike it, it does not select thorny bushes
for building in, its nests being generally found in small trees or
bamboo-clumps. Four is the usual number of eggs laid, but five
are often found, and the fifth I expect is frequently that of _H.
varius_."
Three eggs sent me by Mr. Carter from Coonoor, in the Nilghiries, are
absolutely undistinguishable from those of _Argya malcolmi_. Like
these they are a uniform, rather deep greenish blue, devoid of spots
or markings, and very glossy. I do not think that, if the eggs of _A.
malcolmi, C. malabaricus_, and _C. terricolor_ were once mixed, it
would be possible to separate them with certainty. Other eggs taken by
Mr. Davison are similar but slightly smaller, and, taking them as
a whole, I think they average rather darker than those of the two
species just mentioned.
The eggs vary in length from 0·93 to 1·02, and in breadth from 0·71 to
0·82; but the average of nine eggs is 0·97 by nearly 0·77.