45S GEOCICHLA CITRINA. 



the head and nape, tliese parts being of the same dark shade of orange-brown characteristic of G. rebeeula, Gould, 

 ex Java. On the under surface the orange tints are brighter and richer than in 0. citrina, yet not nearly so dark 

 as in G. rubecula ; the blue-grey portion of the plumage is likewise darker than in G. citrina, but not so dark as in 

 G. rubecula." I have, however, examined a considerable series and find that the species is most variable. As regards 

 the depth of the orange-rufous colour of those I have examined, I have given two examples to show the variation 

 in this respect. There is less white on the lower parts of some specimens from North India than in the type of 

 G. layardi : but Mr. Hume, in his paper on the birds of Tenasserim, shows this to be a variable characteristic also. 

 There is no difference in the size of wing or tail, and, in fact, if the type of G. layardi be laid by the side of a 

 series of G. citrina it is not possible to separate the two. 

 G. rubecula, from Java, is smaller than the present and has no wing-spot : the head is dusky orange-rufous, the back 

 and wings as in G. citrina, and the under surface very dark chestnut, but scarcely any darker than some specimens 

 of the last-mentioned species, which it quite resembles in the colour of its back and wings. Wing 4 - inches ; tail 2-8 ; 

 tarsus 1-15. G. cyanotus is a specialized form inhabiting the jungles of Southern India, and differs notably from 

 the two foregoing in the coloration of the face and throat ; the chin and throat are white ; cheeks aud ear-coverts 

 black, with a white bar across them ; the under surface yellower than in G. citrina. 



Distribution. — This handsome Thrush has only been, as yet, procured three times in the island; and as 

 the dates of its occurrence fall within the duration of the cool season, the hypothesis is that it is migratory, 

 coming from Northern India, as is evidently the case with several other birds, via the east coast of the 

 peninsula, and thus avoiding the jungles of the southern ranges, in which it has never been noticed. The 

 first specimen obtained in Ceylon, and already referred to above, was shot by Mr. Spencer Chapman at a 

 place called Kondawathawan, near Ambare, in the Eastern Province, and sent by that gentleman to Lord 

 Tweeddale. A second example was shot by Mr. F. Gordon, of the Oriental Bank, in open country near 

 Jaffna, in the beginning of 1876, proving, since the species is by habit a forest bird, that it had recently 

 arrived in the island. A third was killed in March 1877 on the banks of the Kirindc ganga, in the 

 Ilambantota district, by one of the collectors of the Colombo Museum, in which it is now preserved. It will 

 be observed that the localities in which it has occurred are very far apart ; and it is evidently a species which 

 is extremely rare in Ceylon. For five years I was constantly on the look out for it in forests in all parts of 

 the island (indeed there was no species the possession of which I so much desired), but I never saw a sign of 

 it anywhere. 



In India this species is found chiefly in the sub- Himalayan region, extending as far westward as Mussoorie. 

 It is not uncommon in Nepal aud about Darjiling, and appears to move about in Sikhim, depending on 

 circumstances connected with the vegetation of various districts in that province. Mr. Gammie writes of it : — 

 " G. citrina is another bird that has become common in the shady cinchona-plantations. Until a year ago 

 I never saw it except near the bottom of our warmest valleys and in the Terai, where it is abundant ; but this 

 year (1877) we have it in large numbers up to 4000 feet/' Further south, in Bengal, it has been obtained 

 by Captain Bcavau at Maunbhoom and by Col. Tickell in Singbhum ; in the Rajmehal hills and in the 

 neighbourhood of Calcutta it is not uncommon {Ball). Jcrdon says that it has been found in the forests 

 of (.'(Mitral India, extending rarely as far south as 10°; he met with it in the jungles of the Eastern 

 Ghats. Further east it is recorded by Mr. Inglis from Cachar, and thence it extends into Pegu and south- 

 wards into Tenasserim. Mr. Oates remarks : — " Though not often seen, this is really a common bird from 

 Thayetmyo to Tonghoo;" aud as regards Tenasserim, Mr. Hume writes that it is " apparently confined to 

 the southern half of the Province, and there to the neighbourhood of the coast, reappearing in the extreme 

 north." Lieut. Wardlaw Ramsay procured it at Karennee. 



Habits. — This handsome bird is a denizen of forest, heavy jungle, and shady groves. The specimen 

 mentioned above as shot in the Ilambantota district was met with in forest on the river-bank, and the 

 country in which Mr. Chapman's bird was procured is covered with heavy jungle. Mr. Davison writes of it 

 as keeping to " forest, but to the more open portions along the beds of streams, near the forest-paths, &c. 

 It feeds usually on the ground, turning over the dead leaves, hunting for insects, which chiefly constitute its 

 food." The writings of Jerdon afford the same testimony as to its habit of turning over leaves, and he says, 

 also, that it keeps to woods and shady gardens, preferring bamboo-jungle ; it often has " its bill clogged with 

 mud, from feeding in damp spots. It is shy and silent in general, but during the breeding-season the male 



