Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS

THE SONG BIRDS

THE BABBLING THRUSHES

(Family Timeliida)
Of all the”families”of Oscines perhaps none is more difficult of intelligible definition, or generally unsatisfactory, than the present. It appears to have been instituted as a sort of”catch-all”for the reception of certain groups that did not fit well into the current systems, with the result that it was at first made to include many forms that have since been referred to the true Thrushes (Tur-dida), Wrens {Troglodytida), Bulbuls (Pycnonotida), Birds-of-Paradise (Par-adiseidtz), Bower Birds (PtilonorhynchidcE), etc., but it still embraces a goodly number. As our knowledge of the structure of these forms increases, a point on which information is still woefully inadequate, it is more than likely that further eliminations will be made until perhaps nothing is left, or it is restricted to a logical basis. In the meantime, however, the”family”may be accepted with the frank confession that it is neither adequate nor satisfactory.
As the supposed diagnostic characters are at present understood, the Timeliida form a large group of mainly tropical Old World birds of various sizes in which the bill is decidedly Thrush-like, the wings short, rounded, and concave so as to fit close to the sides of the body, and the whole plumage generally lax and soft. The outer of the ten primaries is comparatively large, and the plumage of the nestling is like that of the adult female, though paler, both being unspotted.
A number of subfamilies have been recognized within the Timeliida, but as there is not agreement as to the number or their limitation, we may ignore these lines and select for description a few trenchant groups of genera, beginning with a half dozen known collectively as the Laughing Thrushes. They are non-migratory, large birds, mostly between nine and twelve inches in length, with the head more or less distinctly crested, and very strong legs and feet, while the wings are rounded and weak. Most strongly developed in the Himalayas and India, they range southward over the Indian peninsula and large islands adjacent, and westward into Africa. According to Oates,”all are without exception gregarious, being found in troops of from six to twelve individuals. They feed principally on the ground, their strong feet and bills enabling them to turn over leaves, and they are also found on trees, on which they take refuge when disturbed. On being alarmed, or frequently without any apparent cause, they break out into a chorus of notes resembling laughter or loud chatter. They are also in the habit of going through various amusing performances on the ground, erecting their crests, drooping their wings and expanding their tails, dancing and capering about all the time. They are all found in forests or amongst trees and bushes, and although cautious and sometimes very shy, yet on some occasions they seem careless of observation, and they are difficult to get rid of when once their curiosity has been excited. They eat almost every sort of insect and smaller reptile, and they no doubt partake also of fruit. They construct large, cup-shaped nests in trees and lay eggs which with few exceptions are spotless white or blue.”The genera included within this group are Dryon-astes, Garrulax, Ianthocincla, Stactocichla, Grammatoptila, and Trochalopteron.

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