GROUND-THRUSHES. 



17 



much the same materials, except that interiorly there 

 are more chi|'s of rotten bamboo and more vegetable 

 fibre, and very little dead leaf; tliete is a mere pretence 

 foT a lining, a dozen or so very fine wirelike twigs 

 being wonml ruund at the bottom of the cavity. 



"Mr. Oat4's writes: 'May 22nd. Nest in a shrnb in 

 a ravine near Pegu, about 4ft. from the ground, made 

 of roots and strips of soft bark, the ends of some of 

 the latter hanging down a foot or jnore. The interior 

 lined with moss and fern roots. Interior and exterior 

 diameters 4in. and Sin. resi}ectively ; inside depth about 

 2in. and lx)lt(im of nest about lin. thick. Contaiiie<l 

 three eggs quite fresh, measuring 1.04, 1, and 1.06 by 

 0.75. 0.76, and 0.79 respectively. A fourth egg found 

 on the ground near the nest was 1.03 by 0.78. 



"Another nest with three eggs was found on 

 .lune 10th. 



" The eggs are a broad oval, much pointed towards 

 one end, about the size and shape of the Kuropean 

 Water Ouzel's egg. The ground colour is dull greyi~h 

 or greenish white, and each h;is a consjiicuous mottled 

 and speckled red brown cap at the large end. The cap 

 is not sharply defined, and beyond it s|>ecklings and 

 minute streaks of the same colour extend more or lesis 

 over the whole of the rest of the surface of the egg, in 

 some cases ceasing entirely, in others diminishing in 

 frequency as they approach the smaller end. 



" .Some of the eggs of this sjjecies have a very fine 

 gloss, and most of them are fairly glossy. In some 

 the markings are brighter and redder, in others duller 

 and browner. Dull purple markings are generally inter- 

 mingled in the cap, and though this is generally at the 

 larger end I have one egg in which it is at the smaller 

 end. 



"In length the eggs vary from 0.82in. to l.lin., and 

 in breadth from 0.7in. to 0.82in., but the average of a 

 dozen eggs is 0.99in. by 0.77in." 



Hitherto this beautiful bird has not been freely im- 

 ported. According to Russ, the London Zoological 

 Gardens received a specimen in 1876, since which time 

 he believes at least two examples were imported into 

 London. Mr. Emil Linden, of Rudolfzell, at the 

 Bodensee, obtained one in 1877, and another reached 

 the Frankfort Zoological (Jardens in 1878; this Thrush 

 was also offered by the Jamrachs of London in 1881 

 and 1882 at £3 ariece. Little is known respecting its 

 habits in captivity. 



White-theoated Ground-Thrush (Geocichla 

 ci/anonofus). 



Male — head, nape, sides of neck, breast and abdomen 

 rusty orange, remainder of upper surface bluish or 

 leaden grey ; the flights and tail feathers somewhat 

 dusky, a white patch on the outer median wing covertt; 

 and a white tip to the outermost tail feather ; lores 

 white, cheeks and ear coverts white. cixKsed by two 

 parallel brown bands from below and back of eye to 

 throat, the first becoming somewhat feiTuginous at its 

 lower end, which crosses the f^ide of throat to the 

 breast ; vent and under-tail coverts white ; bill blackish, 

 lower mandible somewhat orange towards the base and 

 along tomium ; eyes brown; feet, according to Jerdon, 

 fleslArown, but rejjresented as orange in the illustra- 

 tion of Mr. Phillips's example. Female differs from 

 male in its colours being less pure. 



The White-winged Ground-Thrush* is peculiar to 

 the jungles of Southern India, extending as far as 

 Goomsoor on the east coast, and to Bombay on the 

 west side of India. It is most abundant in the forests 

 of Malabar and Wynaad, but is not rare in the jungles 



* Jerdon'B name for the species ; but not at all a good one. 



of the Eastern Ghats. It prefers bamboo jungles, foed> 

 on the ground, and generally perches low. Its food is 

 chiefly insects, such as ants, cockroaches, and beetles, 

 but not. infrequently also stony fruit. It has rather a 

 sweet song, not often heard, however. Mr. Ward pro- 

 cured the nest in N. Canara, made of roots and grass, 

 placed at no great h'jight from the ground ; and the 

 eggs, three in nmnber, were pale bluish, speckled with 

 brown." (Jerdnn, "Birds of India." Vol. I., p. 517.) 



From Oates's edition of Hume's " Nests and Eggs of 

 Indian Birds." Vol. II., pp. 98-9, I quote the following : 

 "Mr. G. W. Vidal writes : 'The species is plentiful about 

 Dapuli in the ycnithern Konkaii. It breeds in the 

 gardens atxjut the station in June, .luly, and August. I 

 have not myself taken the eggs of this siwcies, but 

 Mr. A. Jardine. of Uaimli, who knows the birds w-ell, 

 and who at once recogni-sed specimens in my collection, 

 has taken a great many neats, and has given me several 

 eggs. He writes : " The nest is made of r<x)ts, twigs, 

 and grass, with a good deal of mud. The egg-cavity is 

 alx)ut 5iin. in diameter, and from 2in. to 3in. deep. 

 'ITie nest is generally placed in the fork of a tree low 

 down. The highest"! ever saw was about 15ft. from 

 the ground in a kinjal tree, but they are mostly found 

 in miuigo trees. When the Thrushes have young they 

 will not let anyone go near the nest, but come flying 

 at you, and peck like fun." The eggs vary greatly in 

 colour and markings, presenting two or three very 

 distinct types.' " 



Mr. J. L. Darling, jun., to whom I am indebted 

 for the eggs of this species, has favoured me with the 

 following note in regard to dts nidification. He says : 

 "The first nest that I found of the White-throated 

 Ground-Thrush I took on Kulputty Hill, in the Wynaad 

 (.Malabar), at an elevation of about 2,800 feet above the 

 sea. It was placed in a small trei>, in a fork about 11 

 feet from the ground, precisely in the same kind of 

 situation as our Nilghiri Blackbird would choose. The 

 nest, too, was very like a Blackbird's— a foundation of 

 loaves and sandy clay, the main body of the nest com- 

 posed of roots, intermingled with a fev,' twigs and a 

 little grass, and the cavity lined with roots and slender 

 petioles of the nelly-kai. 



"This nest contained three partly- incubated eggs. 

 The birds were very shy. I visited the nest four times 

 before I shot the male and six before I shot the female. 

 Directly I approached the nest the bird noiselessly 

 dropped on to the ground and crept away through the 

 brushwood. When disturbing them I noticed that their 

 call was low and sweet like that of the Blackbird when 

 similarlv disturbed. 



" On the 9th I found a second nest, this time about 

 500 feet lower, at the foot of the hill. It was built in 

 a loquat tree, in a fork about 22 feet from the ground, 

 and was in every respect similar to the last, except 

 that a little moss had been used in the construction. 

 The birds were verv brave, defending their nest against 

 one of those thieves of Crow Pheasants, and it was the 

 noise they made that attracted me to the nest. Again 

 I was struck with the great similarity of their notes 

 to those of the Blackbird when its nest is being robbed. 

 This nest contained four perfectly fresh eggs, of which 

 I took three, and then watched the old birds return 

 to the nest, when they broke the one egg I had left to 

 pieces. They have, however, begun another nest in a 

 jack tree close by. 



"Their song is never heard except in the early morn- 

 ings a.nd evenings, and mostly in the latter. They go 

 hopping about under the coffee trees and scratching up 

 and turning over the leaves in .search of food." 



Russ does not mention this species, though he does 

 refer to one or two others which have never been im- 



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