5 LAUGHING THRUSHES & BABBLERS A. BIRDS EQUAL IN SIZE TO OR LARGER THAN THE COMMOM MYNA. 1. The members of this group have powerful legs and feet and short roun- ded wings which means that they are not good fliers. They are mainly terrestrial in their habits and feed on the ground on berries and insects. for which they turn up leaves and other rubbish. Their gregarious and noisy habits have secured for them a place among the well-known birds of augury. Some of the Babblers are also birds of the plains. The White- Crested Laughing Thrushes indulge every few minutes "in an outburst of cackling and laughing calls in which each member tries to out-shout the rest.' t." Similarly the Rufous-necked laughing Thrushes burst "every now and then into a perfect babel of shrieks, laughs and expostulations" and the noisiness of the Common and Jungle Babblers of the plains is a matter of common knowledge. In short, they "are all one blood." 2. Properly speaking they belong to the "peckers" or age class and appear to be the वानकार ! (वाचां करोति, noisy or cacophonous) of and T of g but as they also scrape the ground with the bill and sometimes with the feet in search of food (Jerdon) they have been placed in the faf class in gge under the name of Fearg (very noisy). Local names of these birds often emphasize their noisy character e.g. the Himalayan White-Crested Laughing Thrush is far in Hindi (cf. r'), and Nepali or Hindi farge for the Rufous-necked and Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler is evidently the same as कुरुबाहू, for भूयस् is भिय्यो or भिव्य in Pali and कुरो is the 11. CC. बाग्यकार (बानकार - गेयकार, one who recites) in मानसोल्लास Vol. 2. 105 and Hindi for garrulity. 2. "फा शब्दकारी फाकारो" where फा (निरोक्तो शाश्वत) refers to the harsh calls and noisy nature of the birds and is in contrast with the sense of or in names like कलरव, मधुक etc. अष्टाङ्गस ग्रह 1.7 gives पार्कार while Paradkar's edition of अष्टाङ्गहृदय (N. Sagar, 1999) quotes an alternative reading of er in a foot-note at p. 95, both giving the same sense, 29 Laughing Thrushes and Babblers same as a (harsh voice). Both these occur in Nepal where the influence of Pali and Buddhism was predominant in ancient times. वाक्कार, कुरवक, and are therefore, common Sanskrit names for these noisy birds. It may be added that कुरुबाहुक is a better reading in मुश्रुत than कुरवाहक though both mean the same thing. M. Williams gives the former as कुरुबाहु and डल्हणाचार्य renders it as कुस्कुरुक, noisy. The birds of the following extract should be the Himala- yan White-Crested, the Indian Black-gorgeted, the Indian Necklaced, and the White-throated, Laughing Thrushes of the Western Himalayas ranging between 2,000 and 5,000 ft. and common in the foot-hills of the Punjab, Garhwal, Nepal, etc. All these are allied forms and have similar habits. Some four or five birds get on the path or open space and begin to dance with lowered wings and spreading their tails, threading in and out amongst themselves in the most complicated figures while the rest of the mob watches and applauds from every branch of the surrounding bushes or trees in the heartiest and jolliest fashion (Stray Feathers, 6,286, and S. Baker in F.B.I.):- "वाणीवादाञ्छुकां व सारिकान् भृङ्गराजकान्"- M. Bh. 13,54,10 The name arfare would seem to be connected with arft, sound of a hand-drum, वाणिनी, a dancer, वाण्यः a choir of musicians, and are sounding or playing a musical instrument; cf. frare clapping the hands in approbation. Our birds certainly dance, sing and applaud one another. The Red-headed Laughing Thrush of Nepal is neither noisy nor gregarious and some of its louder notes are quite mellow and sweet. It should be the bird of a Himalayan hermitage described in g, Ch. 118. This Thrush has a chestnut head and the adjective. signifies the same colour in the plumage of the Brahminy Kite described as "r" (Art. 52-E). F 3. Names for members of the Starling group and for the Common, the Large Grey, and the Jungle Babblers (with yellow feet and, therefore, पीतपादा like the सारिका or Myna) have been mixed up in कल्पद्रुकोश, राजनिघंटु and other lexicons. The reason for this seems to be their apparent similarity to the common Myna in size, noisiness and the habit of feeding on the ground. That this confusion prevails in the popular mind as well may be seen from the fact that the Bengal Jungle Babbler is known as पंगामना or फंगा in Hindi and the हिन्दीशब्दसागर defines पेंगिया मंना, and , names for the Bengal Jungle Babbler and the Large 1. afore (the Hornbill) is also a very noisy bird and applies the epithet कुरुबाहु i.e. very noisy to it. बृहत्संहिता (874) calls the noisy Magpies as कुरवक (करवक in M.W.) 2. These Hindi names are from Sanskrit roots पिज्ज - पिजि - पिङ्ग and गुड - गङ्गय to make a sound, all, more or less, of onomatopoetic origin. Another name for the fer is मदन सारिका which is shortened to मदना in Prakrit and this last again becomes मयना-मेना in Hindi.
