202 BRITISH BIRDS. 
some time perched in an upright position in one spot, without noticing 
the berries or the species feeding on them. Its flight, when roused from 
its feeding, was very undulating, like that of the Green Woodpecker, and 
low, often settling on the ground, and only making choice of a tree when 
it happened to pass under one, into which it rose almost vertically. As far 
as its habits could be ascertained from these short opportunities of obser- 
yation, it would appear to be almost entirely a ground feeder.” 
The above description of the habits of White’s Ground-Thrush accords 
well with what little is known respecting them in the bird’s true haunts. 
All the Thrushes are, to a certain extent, ground feeders ; but the members 
of this genus (Geocichla) are, par excellence, “ ground”’-Thrushes. Beetles, 
grubs, spiders, worms, and mollusks, found on the ground in humid situa- 
tions, at the foot of trees, under shrubs, and amongst withered leaves, 
evidently form its favourite food; and its beautifully mottled plumage 
blends closely with the tints of surrounding objects, as the Woodcock’s 
russet dress hides him so effectually from view as he sits so quietly amongst 
the withered autumn leaves. But various berries are also eaten, notably 
those of the banyan. These berries are most probably eaten as fruits, just 
as garden fruit is eaten by many of our own insectivorous birds. 
As to the bird’s claims to the rank of a songster we are still in doubt. 
No one has yet informed us what his love-song is, or whether he is ‘silent? 
A closely allied bird, the “ Mountain-Thrush” of the Australian colo- 
nists (Geocichla lunulata), was never heard to sing by Gould during his 
sojourn in its favourite haunts. But, judging from analogy, it seems 
probable that the bird has a song, and that when its habits are better 
known to naturalists we shall have a confirmation of this. Its call-note 
is somewhat different from that of the Song-Thrush ; and when passing 
through the air on migration it occasionally utters a_ melodious whistling 
ery. 
The only record of the nest of White’s Thrush being taken is of that 
obtained by Swinhoe in North China, published in Rowley’s ‘ Ornithological 
Miscellany,’ vol. ii. p. 256. Mr. Swinhoe writes :— It was not until I got 
to Ningpo, in 1872, that I found that White’s Thrush spent the summer 
in the wooded parts of the hills around that neighbourhood ; and I thence 
conclude that it resides in similar hills, in summer, all down the coast of 
China, resorting to the plains and gardens in its winter migrations. In 
May 1872 I resided for a time at a large temple near Ningpo called ‘Chin- 
hooze,’ in the midst of woods situated on a hillside. Some boys pointed 
to a nest hidden in the upper branches of a high pine tree, and asked if 
they should climb to it. Thinking it was a Blackbird’s, I assented, and 
then wandered away. Soon after I met the boys, who carried in their 
hands the nest (to all appearance that of a Blackbird), with three eggs, 
which, though so like a Blackbird’s, had the dots so minute that they 
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