344 



THE BLACK-FACED THEUSH. 



exceedingly fai?t ninner, so that it is able to conceal itself with great rapidity as soon as it 

 finds cause of alarm. 



The nest of tliis species is a very loose and negligent kind of structure, made of 

 leaves, the inner bark of trees, and various vegetable substances, laid carelessly togetlier in 

 some casual depression in the ground. Tlie eggs are rather large in pi-oportion to the size 

 of the bird, and their colour is greyish white, covered with large olive-brown mottlings. 

 According to Gould, tlieir number is two, but the author of " Bush Wanderings in Australia " 



states that this bird lays three 



eggs. The young are able to run 



almost as soon as they leave the 



^_^ _ ^_^^^^^==^*'°" egg, and in two days their bodies 



" ""' are covered with a soft black down 



like that of the young water-hen. 

 The flesh of the Ground Dove is 

 remarkably good, and when the 

 bird is fat it meets with a ready 

 sale, and is generally disposed of 

 to the game-dealers together with 

 the painted quail, as it arrives and 

 leaves at the same time with that 

 bird. 



The voice of the Ground Dove 

 is not very sweet, its cry or song 

 consisting of a low piping whistle. 

 The colour of this bird is some- 

 what similar to that of the Tlirush 

 or fieldfare, and is briefly as fol- 

 lows. The back and upper por- 

 tions are brown, covered with 

 black dashes. Over each eye is 

 a white streak, and there is a 

 white patch on the cheek.?. The 

 chest is grey, and the alidomen 

 white, warming into reddish buff 

 upon the flanks, and each feather 

 being marked with a black centre. 

 Between the abdomen and the 

 chest is a black band. Tlie total 

 length of this bird is about ten 

 inches, and its general proportions 

 resemble those of the common 

 fieldfare of England. 



1 



BLACK-FACED TURUSH.— Oirni/.u; Chiiiensls. 



Several species of Babblers 



possess a sweet song, others arc 



admirable mimics, while others 



are remarkable for the strange 



oddity of their cry. 



One of the best songsters in this group is the Black-faced Thrush, a native of 



the mountainous regions of India and China. This bird is very gregarious in its habits, 



assembling in large flocks and preferring the thickest jungles and deepest ravines to the 



open country. These flocks, although they are so deeply liidden, are easily discoverable 



by means of the extraordinary sounds which they emit, and which are said to resemble 



a chorus of wild laughter. The food of this bird, when at liberty, consists cliiefly of fruit 



and insects ; but when tamed, the Black-faced Thrush is rather carnivorous in its character, 



as will presently be seen. The nest of tliis bird is rather rudely constructed of little sticks 



