202 BRITISH BIRDS. 



some time perched in an upright position in one spot^ without noticing 

 the berries or the species feeding on them. Its flighty when roused from 

 its feeding, was very und\ilating, Uke that of the Green Woodpecker, and 

 low, often settling on the ground, and only making choice of a tree when 

 it happened to pass under one, into which it rose almost vertically. As far 

 as its habits could be ascertained from these short opportunities of obser- 

 vation, it would appear to be almost entirely a ground feeder.'" 



The above description of the habits of White's Ground-Thrush accords 

 well with what little is known respecting them in the bird's true haunts. 

 All the Thrushes are, to a certain extent, ground feeders ; but the members 

 of this genus [Geocichla) are, par excellence, " ground "-Thrushes. Beetles, 

 grubs, spiders, worms, and mollusks, found on the ground in humid situa- 

 tions, at the foot of trees, under shrubs, and amongst withered leaves, 

 evidently form its favourite food ; and its beautifully mottled plumage 

 blends closely with the tints of surrounding objects, as the Woodcock's 

 russet dress hides him so effectually from view as he sits so quietly amongst 

 the withered autumn leaves. But various berries are also eaten, notably 

 those of the banyan. These berries are most probably eaten as fruits, just 

 as garden fruit is eaten by many of our own insectivorous birds. 



As to the bird's claims to the rank of a songster we are still in doubt. 

 No one has yet informed us what his love-song is, or whether he is silent. 

 A closely allied bird, the " Mountain-Thrush " of the Australian colo- 

 nists {Geocichla lunulata), was never heard to sing by Gould during his 

 sojourn in its favourite haunts. But, judging from analogy, it seems 

 probable that the bird has a song, and that when its habits are better 

 known to naturalists we shall have a confirmation of this. Its call-note 

 is somewhat different fi-om that of the Song-Thrush ; and when passing 

 through the air on migration it occasionally utters a melodious whistling 

 cry. 



The only record of the nest of White's Thrush being taken is of that 

 obtained by Swinhoe in North China, published in Rowley's ' Ornithological 

 Miscellany,' vol. ii. p. 256. Mr. Swinhoe writes : — " It was not until I got 

 to Ningpo, in 1872, that I found that White's Thrush spent the summer 

 in the wooded parts of the hills around that neighbourhood ; and I thence 

 conclude that it resides in similar hills, in summer, all down the coast of 

 China, resorting to the plains and gardens in its winter migrations. In 

 May 1872 I resided for a time at a large temple near Ningpo called 'Chin- 

 hooze,' in the midst of woods situated on a hillside. Some boys pointed 

 to a nest hidden in the upper branches of a high pine tree, and asked if 

 they should climb to it. Thinking it was a Blackbird's, I assented, and 

 then wandered away. Soon after I met the boys, who carried in their 

 hands the nest (to all appearance that of a Blackbird), with three eggs, 

 which, though so like a Blackbird's, had the dots so minute that they 



