THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OP BENGAL. 221 



356. Us.— GeocicMa albogularis, Blyth. (6.) 



This very handsome ground thrush, which we observed 

 throughout both groups of islands, from Galatea Bay on the 

 south to the Cocos on the north, is hardly, I think, identical 

 with innotata, Blyth, which was thus described : — " Resembles 

 G. citrina, but has the ferruginous color of the head and under 

 parts, and the ash color of its upper parts more intense; no 

 white upon the wings, and the lower tail coverts only (not the 

 vent) are white. From the Malayan Peninsula.'" 



And on another occasion he added, " wing of supposed 

 male 4*5. " 



Now in the first place the Andaman bird has not the ferru- 

 ginous color of the head anything like so intense as in citrina. 

 On the contrary, the whole cap in fine specimens is suffused 

 with brown ; in the second place, the vent as well as the lower 

 tail coverts are white just as in citrina ; in the third place, the 

 wing of none of our specimens, males or females, the latter 

 being rather the smaller, exceeds 4'2. Mr. Ball, it is true, gives 

 4*5 as the dimensions of an Andaman bird ; I can only say that 

 the wings of six Andaman specimens, all fine adults in full 

 plumage, are as follows : — 



Males, 4, 4-1 to 4*2; females, 3-9 3'95 to 4' 15. Lastly, the 

 Andaman and Nicobar birds are distinguished by two brown eye 

 stripes, smaller and feebler than those of cyanotis, but similarly 

 placed, and which could not have escaped Blyth in describing 

 innotata. Lastly, I have a specimen of what I believe to be 

 innotata from Burmah, which is a considerably larger bird, with 

 a wing 4'62. 



The following are the dimensions recorded in the flesh of 

 the present species : — 



Length, 8 to 8*5; expanse, 12 to 13; wing, as above; tail, 

 from vent, 2'8 to 3'25; tarsus, l'l to 12; bill; at front, 0-74 

 to 0-8. 



The legs, feet, and claws ai*e very pale fleshy ; the latter 

 streaked on the sides with pale horny ; the bill has the upper 

 mandible black or horny brown paling to pinkish fleshy from 

 nostrils to gape ; lower mandible pale horny at tip darkening to 

 deep horny brown, to angle of gonys, from thence pale bluish 

 horny ; gape pinkish fleshy ; irides deep hair brown or nut 

 brown. The lores and a little patch under the anterior angle 

 of the eyes, chin, and the upper part of the throat pure white 

 in some birds ; in others some or all of these parts faintly 

 suffused with orange ferruginous. The rest of the throat, the 



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