MERULIN^. 519 



spot; G. rubecula, Hor&L, from Java; and G. ruhiginosa, Mull., 

 apud Bonaparte, from Malayana, if indeed this be distinct from 

 Horsfield's bird. 



The next species shows a different type of coloring, and leads 

 to the Blackbirds. 



356. Geocichla unicolor, Tickell. 



Tardus apud Tickell— Blyth, Cat. 954 — Horsf., Cat. 261 — 

 Petroc-homochroa, Hodgson — Desi Pawai, H. — Machasah, Beng. 

 Poda palisa, Tel. 



The Dusky Ground-thrush. 



Desci\ — Male, above uniform dusky slaty ash-color ; chin nearly 

 white; throat pale ashy ; breast ashy; abdomen and lower tail-coverts 

 white ; under winoj-coverts and flanks of abdomen ferruginous. 



The female is olive-brown above, ashy about the rump ; ear-co- 

 verts ashy brown, with light shafts ; beneath, the chin and throat 

 albescent, or very pale ashy, bordered by a dark stripe from the 

 base of the lower mandible, and the feathers of the throat and 

 neck streaked with dusky-brown ; the breast and sides ashy-brown, 

 tinged with fulvous, or olive-brown on the flanks ; belly, vent, and 

 lower tail-coverts, white. 



Bill dusky -yellow ; eyelids and gape yellow ; legs brownish- 

 yellow ; irides brown. Length 9 inches ; extent 14|- ; wing 4^ ; 

 tail o^ ; bill at front \^ ; tarsus ]§•. 



This Ground-thrush is found throughout the whole extent of 

 the Himalayas, migrating in winter to various of the more wooded 

 districts in the plains of India. It is tolerably common about 

 Calcutta : Tickell procured it in Central India ; and I obtained it 

 from the Eastern Ghats and the Deccan, but 1 did not find it in 

 the Malabar forests. It appears to be more abundant in the N. 

 W. Himalayas than towards the South-east ; and it is not common in 

 Sikhim. Adams states that it is the * Song Thrush' of Cashmere ; 

 with a song something like that of the Blackbird, but of fewer 

 notes, and not so much varied. Hutton obtained the nest at Mus- 

 sooree in June, made of roots and moss, usually placed against the 

 body of a tree, where some twigs jut out, or on a horizontal branch ; 



