ipO A'ESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



157. — Geocichla hetnii, Cabanis. 



RUSSET GROUND THRUSH. 



Figure. — Seebohm : Monograph of the Turdidae. pi. vi., fig. i. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. v., p. 157. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs, — Campbell : Victorian Naturalist, vol. xvi., 

 p. 55 (1899); Le Souef : Ibis, p. 458 (1900). 



Geographical Distribution. — Queensland and New South Wales. 



Ne,st. — Open ; composed of green moss ( Meteoriiim), matted with dark 

 wire-like rootlets, and spaiingly lined with rootlets, &c. ; usually placed in 

 a thick mossy fork or on horizontal limb in dense scrub. Dimensions over 

 all, 7 inches by 4 inches in depth ; egg cavity, 3i inches across by \\ 

 inches deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two usually, probably three occasionally ; oval in foitn ; 

 texture of shell fine ; sui-face glossy ; colour, beautiful delicate or pale-green, 

 spotted and splashed with pm-plish-brown. The markings are moderately 

 dispersed, excepting on the apex, where they are more numerous. 

 Dimensions in inches of ,-i proper pair : (1) 1-19 x -82, (2) I-IS x -85. 



These eggs are smaller and more greenish in their ground-colour 

 than those of either of the southern varieties. 



Observations. — Judging by the smaller and more greenish eggs of the 

 Ground Thrush received from the Richmond River sci-ubs of New South 

 Wales, it occiured to me they may possibh- be referable to the northern 

 variety, G. heiiiii. Therefore, I invoked the good sei-\'ices of 

 Mr. Hy. R. Elvery to procure me a skin from the locality. By its decided 

 iTisset-colom-ed plumage (on the upper siu-face) and other minor diSerences 

 it is evidently Jieinii. Moreover, according to Seebohm, there is in the 

 British Museum an example of G. heinii, taken still further south, at the 

 Clarence River. The Bellenger River is probably its extreme southern 

 Umit, where it has been obsei-\'ed by Mr. S. W. Jackson. 



Seebohm regarded G. heinii as " a very distinct species," while Gould, 

 in the iirst instance, and speaking generally of the Moimtain Thrush, 

 merely recorded that " considerable variation exists in size and colouring 

 of individuals from different districts." Would it not be interesting to 

 seciu'e a series of skins, from the Richmond scrubs to Tasmania, to ascertain 

 if the three species — heinii, lunulata, and macrorhyncha, really grade or 

 not into one common species? 



Mr. Elveiy infonns me that the Russet Ground Thrush is shy and 

 seldom seen except when quitting its nest. Dming field observations of 

 three seasons he noticed ten nests, with eggs, between the months of 

 September and January — apparently the limits of the breeding season 

 for that locality at all events. In no instance were there more than two 

 eggs in a nest. 



Obviously, Mr. Lau's notes, quoted under G. lunulata, may be read in 

 coujimction with G. heinii. 



