LAUGHING THRUSH

also called Jay-thrush, any of the 45 species of the Asian genus Garrulax, large, strong-billed, sometimes strikingly patterned song-babblers, family Timaliidae. The name laughing thrush is sometimes used for the song-babbler (q.v.) group generally. These shy birds of forests form sizable flocks and reveal their presence by cackling and screaming loudly. A widespread example, from the Himalayas to Sumatra (and frequently seen in captivity), is the white-crested laughing thrush (G. leucolophus), 30 centimetres (12 inches) long and reddish-brown, except for white foreparts, puffy white crest, and black mask. The hua-mei (G. canorus), also called Chinese thrush, is a slightly smaller and plainer species, widespread in eastern Asia and introduced in Hawaii.