Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE SONG BIRDS
THE BABBLING THRUSHES
Chinese Nightingale
One of the best-known members of the group is Trochalopteron canorum, of China and Hainan, which is the Hoa-mey of the Chinese and the so-called Chinese Nightingale of European residents. About eight and one half inches in length, it is dark rufescent or deep olivaceous brown above, the head and hind neck being streaked, with dark shaft lines to the feathers, while the quills are sepia-brown and the tail-feathers olive-brown indistinctly barred with dusky; the forehead appears scaly from the presence of black shaft streaks to the feathers, while the sides of the neck, throat, and under parts are tawny buff, the feathers mainly with the black shaft streaks. The bird is fairly abundant in the mountains of the middle provinces of China, where it frequents especially the borders of woods in small parties. It is very commonly kept in captivity by the Chinese, who regard it very highly as a songster, though its sonorous and varied notes are rather too loud for the full enjoyment of Europeans. It becomes very tame and familiar when caged, but in a state of nature it is extremely wild. It is also employed in combat by the Chinese.