Tardus. 



Subgenus GEOCICHLA. 

 Bill somewhat short ; a naked space at the posterior corner of the eye ; otherwise as in 



GEOCICHLA CITRINA. 



(THE OEANGE-HEADED THRUSH.) 



Turdus citrinus, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 350 (1790). 



Geocichla citrina, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1847, xvi. p. 145 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 163 



(1849) ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 189 (1854) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. 



i. p. 517 (1862); Hume, Nests and Eggs, i. p. 229(1873); Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, 



p. 407 ; Hume, ibid. 1875, p. 114 ; Oates, ibid. 1877, p. 151 ; Hume & Davison, B. of 



Tenass., Str. Eeath. 1878, p. 250. 

 Geocichla layardi, Walden, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, v. p. 416 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, 



p. 445, et 1877, p. 160. 

 The Orange-headed Ground-Thrush (Jerdon) ; The Busty-throated Bush-Thrush (Hume). 



Adult male (Darjiling). Length (from skin) about 8-5 inches ; wing 4-5 ; tail 2-9 ; tarsus 1-25 ; mid toe 0-8, claw 

 (straight) 0-25 ; bill to gape 1-0. 



Adult (Nepal). Wing 4-5 inches ; tail 3-0 ; bill to gape 14. 



" Bill blackish brown ; gape and base of lower mandible fleshy ; eyelids greenish plumbeous ; iris dark hazel ; legs, 

 feet, and claws fleshy pink " (Oates, Pegu). 



Adult male (Ceylon, 67. layardi). Length (from skin) 8 - 5 inches ; wing 4 - 5 ; tail 2-7 ; tarsus 1*2 ; mid toe L05, 

 claw 0'25 ; bill to gape TO. 



Iris brown (?) ; bill dark brown, pale at the base, the gape yellowish ; legs and feet fleshy yellow ; claws yellowish 

 brown. 



Forehead, top of the head, back and sides of neck rich aureous chestnut, paling on the throat, fore neck, entire breast, 

 and flanks into a more fulvous hue, the lores, chin, and gorge being lighter than the fore neck ; lower part of 

 hind neck, back, scapulars, wing- and upper tail-coverts glistening bluish grey, each feather with a broad paler 

 grey margin ; terminal part of median wing-coverts, belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts white, tips of the greater 

 secondary coverts whitish ; quills brown, the outer webs of a paler grey than the edgings of the upper surface ; 

 tail bluish grey, brown on the inner webs of all but the central feathers, and the whole crossed by dark rays, 

 almost obsolete on the latter. 



Female. Length 8*0 inches ; wing 4-4 ; tail 2-5 ; tarsus 2'15 ; mid toe 075 ; bill to gape 095. 



Chin and throat more albescent than in the male ; entire abdomen and sides, vent, and under tail-coverts white ; 



interscapular region, scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts washed with olivaceous greenish, the central parts of the 



feathers being slaty ; upper tail-coverts tinged with olivaceous in a less degree. 



The above are descriptions of the only male example I have seen from Ceylon (which is the type of Lord Tweeddale's 

 67. layardi) and of a female procured at Jaffna, and now in Mr. Holdsworth's collection. 



The following is a comparison of the two Indian specimens of which the dimensions have been given above : — 

 Darjiling. Somewhat paler in its rufous colour than the above : distribution of the white on the abdomen and lower 



flank-plumes exactly the same ; wing-bar similar. 

 Nepal. As dark as, if not darker than, the Ceylonese specimen in its rufous coloration ; less white on the abdomen. 



Oh. The Ceylonese Orange-headed Thrush was separated from the North-Indian form by the late Lord Tweeddale, 

 and named by him 67. layardi. It was stated, he. cit., " to be readily distinguished by the much deeper orange of 



3N 



