ushes, chats, robins,
accentors, and dippers.

The southern pied bush-chat (_Pratincola atrata_) is one of the
commonest and most familiar birds of the Nilgiris. It frequents
gardens and is often found near houses: hence it is known as the
hill-robin. The cock is clothed in black except the lower part of
the back, the under parts, and a bar on the wing, which are white.
Those parts that are black in the cock are brown in the hen, while
her back and under parts are russet instead of white, but the white
bar on the wing persists. This species lives on insects. It dwells
in low shrubs and captures its quarry on the ground. It nests in a
hole in a bank or well, lining the same with grass or hair. But summer
visitors to the hills are not likely to come across the eggs, because
these are usually hatched before May.

The Nilgiri blackbird (_Merula simillima_) is very like the blackbird
of England. The plumage of the cock, however, is not so black, and
the legs, instead of being brown, are reddish. Its charming song,
with which all who have visited Ootacamund are familiar, is almost
indistinguishable from that of its European cousin.

The Nilgiri thrush (_Oreocincla nilgirensis_) resembles the European
thrush in appearance. Its upper plumage is pale brown, spotted with
black and buff; its throat and abdomen are white with black drops.
This bird has a fine powerful song, but he who wishes to hear it has
usually to resort to one of the forests on the plateau of the Nilgiris.

THE PLOCEIDAE OR WEAVER-BIRD FAMILY

This family includes the weaver-birds, famous for their wonderful
hanging retort-shaped nests, and the munias, of which the amadavat
or _lal_ is familiar to every resident of India as a cage bird.

The weaver-birds do not ascend the hills, but several species of munia
are found on the Nilgiris. Spotted munias (_Uroloncha punctulata_)
are abundant in the vicinity of both Coonoor and Ootacamund. They
occur in flocks on closely-cropped grassland. They feed on the ground.
They are tiny birds, not much larger than white-eyes. The upper
plumage is chocolate brown, becoming a rich chestnut about the head
and neck, while the breast and abdomen are mottled black and white,
hence the popular name. The black spots on the breast and abdomen
cause these to look like the surface of a nutmeg grater; for that
reason this munia is sometimes spoken of as the nutmeg-bird. The
rufous-bellied munia (_Uroloncha pectoralis_) occurs abu