United States or Jamaica ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
When the birds are feeding in company, they keep up a continual chatter, which is not unpleasing to the ear. When alarmed they give vent to a harsh cry of a kind characteristic of the babbler tribe. The scimitar-babbler is a bird nearly as big as a myna. It is of brownish hue and has a tail of moderate length.
Scimitar-babblers are so called because of the long, slender, compressed beak, which is curved downwards like that of a sunbird. Several species of scimitar-babbler occur in the Himalayas. The above mentioned is the most abundant in the Western Himalayas. This species is known as the Banbakra at Mussoorie. Its bill is 1½ inch long. The upper plumage is olive brown.
The rest of the plumage is umber brown, but every feather has a white streak along the middle. These white streaks give the bird the striated appearance from which it obtains its name. Pomatorhinus erythrogenys. The rusty-cheeked scimitar-babbler. Pomatorhinus schisticeps. The slaty-headed scimitar-babbler. This is easily distinguished from the foregoing species by its conspicuous white eyebrow.
Word Of The Day