“a 
TURDUS OLIVACEUS. 201 
no song, but only a short hurried cry when alarmed, and flying 
upward to the topmost branches of the thickest trees, amid which 
it endeavours to conceal itself. Jf unsuccessful in this, it launches 
itself off and makes for the nearest thicket,—its voice and manner 
reminding the observer of the European blackbird. It breeds in 
thick bushes, making a nest like that of the blackbird, and lined 
with fibres and roots. The eggs, large for the size of the bird, are 
generally four in number, of a light verditer blue, mottled with 
irregular patches of brown, thickest on the obtuse end: axis, 15’’’; 
fisam., 11’"". 
Victorin did not seem to have collected specimens at the Knysna, 
but Mr, Andersson procured it here. Mr. Rickard has found it in the 
neighbourhood of East London and Port Elizabeth, and Mr. T. C. 
Atmore has sent it from Eland’s Post. In Natal, writes Mr. Ayres, 
“These Thrushes appear to be more numerous during the winter 
than the summer months. They frequent the bush range along the 
coast, and are tolerably plentiful. I sometimes find their claws 
much worn, as if employed in scratching for their food. They very 
seldom utter a note, and might well be called the ‘ Silent Thrush.’ ” 
We have also received specimens from the late Mr. R. Moffat, killed 
near Kuruman, and Sir Andrew Smith obtained his examples of the 
bird he named TZ’. obscurus towards Delagoa Bay. He says that 
“itis a solitary bird, inhabiting damp, secluded thickets and brush- 
wood skirting the banks of rivers, and is generally seen in such 
localities actively employed in displacing the decayed vegetation, 
which occurs upon the surface of the soil, covering the insects and 
worms on which it feeds.” Mr. Ayres also observes concerning the 
species in the Transvaal: ‘‘ These Thrushes.are common in Potchef- 
stroom all the year round, but are silent and retiring in their habits, 
frequenting thickets and dense hedgerows, and occasionally uttering 
a low short chuck, very similar to that of the Redwing of Europe.” 
Our friend, Mr. F. A. Barratt, shot several at Macamac in the 
Lydenburg district. Andersson gives the following note :— 
‘Messrs. J. and H. Chapman brought away specimens of this 
Thrush from the Lake-regions: but I have never met with it to the 
west of the Lake-country. It is one of the commonest species in 
the Cape Colony, where it is partially migratory, being found most 
abundantly at the grape and fruit-season: it is fond of almost all 
kinds of fruit, but when these fail, it subsists on beetles and other 
insects,”” 
