“ I t breeds at Abu in the rains, commencing nidification towards the end of the hot weather but I
was never fortunate enough to find a nest. I t is common, but I have never met with it on the
plains ; and I am inclined to think that it is migratory, as I lost sight of it during the cold weather,
and did not see it again till May, when it reappeared in considerable numbers ” (Str F iii u 470
1875). ' ' - ’
Very Uttle has been written about the habits of the Black-capped Ouzel. Colonel Butler says
that it has a loud rich note, resembling the whistle of Turdus musims. Dr. Jerdon observes:—
“ lik e other Blackbirds, it feeds much on the ground on snails, soft insects, and occasionally on
fruit. At Nellore I found that it lived almost entirely on the pretty Helix bistrialis, so common in
hedgerows in the' Carnatic. I heard its song at Tellichefry towards the end of the cold weather, but
only very early m the morning long before sunrise. I also heard it in Bustar in April, where it was
breeding. I t is not nearly so powerful, or so fine, as that of its Nilghiri or Ceylon congener.”
The following observations on the nesting of the species have appeared in Mr. Oates’s edition of
Mr. Hume’s * Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds ’ (vol. ii. p. 9 1 ) “ Mr. H. Wenden has found many
nests of this Blackbird on the GMts near Khandala. He says
“ * 6th July, 1879. Lonauli. Found nest with three young birds in a small euphorbia bush
4t| feet above ground.
“ ‘ 27th July. Davidson and I found two nests, each with three eggs. One situated in the fork
of a horizontal bough about 5 feet from ground, and the other on the point of a pollarded branch
8 feet from ground.
2nd August. I found another nest with three eggs, 12 feet up in a euphorbia bush I have
found several other nests, some old and others building. This species seems to be breeding very
freely about here (Lonauli, ftom 1800 to 2400 feet above the sea).
“ ‘ On 27th July I shot both male and female from a nest, and Davidson and I identified them.
The nests are composed of stout twigs and grass, covered externally with much earth and moss.
Internally they measure from 3J to 3} inches diameter by 2 deep, neatly lined with fine grass-steWs,
root, &c.; the lining of one nest consisted entirely of the spines of casuarina.’
“ The eggs of this species are, typically, moderately broad, very regular ovals, but short broad
more or less pyriform varieties, and, again, considerably elongated oval ones, occur' The eggs'
are always fairly glossy, and some have a fine gloss. The ground-colour varies from greenish-wMte
to a delicate pale sea-green, the markings, usually most dense about one or other end, where they
often form a more or less regular cap or zone, are a rich brownish-red and pale purple, and consist
of specks, spots, blotches, and streaks, becoming sometimes quite confluent at one end of the egg
to which in some eggs they are almost entirely confined, while in others, with the exception of a
slight tendency to conglomerate round the large end, they are pretty evenly distributed over the
entire surface.
“ The eggs vary from T02 to 1-17 in length, and from 0-78 to 0-88 in breadth; but the average
of 15 eggs is 1-08 by 0*82.” 5
Adult male. General colour above light slaty-grey, decidedly browner on the mantle, hind-neck
and sides of neck and nape, leaving the crown of the head black, forming a cap; wing-coverts clew
slate-colour; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, externally bluish slate-colour- the
primaries inclining to hoary-grey oh their outer margins; tail black, slightly washed with date-
colour externally; lores, sides of face, and ear-coverts black, like the crown; cheeks and entire throat
brown, fading off on the breast and under-parts into a paler and more slaty-brown and into white on
the lower abdomen and vent; thighs pale ashy-brown; under tail-coverts pale ashy, with broad
white central streaks down the feathers ;• axillaries and under wing-coverts light ashy-grey • quills
dusky below, ashy along the inner web: “ bill reddish-orange; feet yellow; iris dark brown”
[W. Davison). Total length 10 inches, culmen IT , wing 5’3, tail 3-8, tarsus T3.
Adult female. Similar to the male but browner, and not of such a bluish slate-colour, the under
surface being of a pale brown, with a few dusky blackish streaks on the throat: “ bill orange-yellow;
feet yellow; iris dark brown; eyelids orange” (E . A.Butler). Total length 9*75 inches, culmen 0’9,
wing 4*85, tail 3*3, tarsus 1*3.
You/hg. More dusky brown than the adults, and with narrow whitish shaft-streaks or triangular
spots of buff on the wing-coverts; under surface of body light reddish-buff, mottled with dusky
blackish edges to the feathers, which have also triangular mesial spots of buff or shaft-lines of
pale buff.
The adult specimens above described are in the Tweeddale and Seebohm Collections, from
Khandeish, and the young, from Sambalpur, are in the Hume Collection. The figures in the Plate
are drawn from examples in the Seebohm Collection. [R. B. S.]