е sub | 
3 GEOCICHLA LUNULATA (Гай). 
ed 11 : 
S: SOUTH-AUSTRALIAN GROUND-THRUSH. 
ui 
Lunulated Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 184 (1801). 
Turdus lunulatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xlii (1801). 
Turdus varius (nec Pall.), Vig. & Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 218 (1826). 
Oreocincla nove-hollandie, Gould, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 145. 
Oreocincla lunulata, Gould, B. Austr. iv. pl. 7 (1848). 
Geocichla lunulata, Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 155 (1881). 
С. suprà olivascenti-brunnea, nigro lunulata: pileo rufescenti-brunneo, nigro lunulato, haud ochraceo variegato : 
caudá longá, rectricibus externis angusté (c. 10 mm.) albo terminatis. 
THE range of the present species is given by Dr. E. P. Ramsay as from Victoria and South Australia 
to New South Wales and thence to the Richmond and Clarence Rivers and the Wide Bay district. 
If the latter distribution be correct, the ranges of G. heinú and С. lunulata must overlap (cf. Ramsay, 
Tab. List Austr. B. p. 11), but more definite information on this point is required. 
Gould says :—‘ During the summer the present species ascends high up the mountain-sides, 
but in winter it descends to the lower districts, the outskirts of the forest, and occasionally visits the 
gardens of the settlers. Its chief food consists of helices and other molluscs, to which insects of 
many kinds are added ; and it is most likely that fruits and berries occasionally form a part of its diet. 
It is a solitary species, more than two being rarely found together, and frequently only a single 
individual is to be seen, noiselessly hopping over the rugged ground in search of food. Its powers of 
flight are seldom exercised, and, so far as І am aware, it has no song." Doubtless the present 
species, like other members of the genus, sings during the nesting-season in the mountains. 
Gould also gives a description of the nest and eggs, but as he unites G. macrorhyncha of 
Tasmania to G. lunulata, whereas I consider the two birds to be distinct, and, further, as he gives no 
measurements, І refrain from quoting his description of the eggs, as it is impossible to say to which 
species he is alluding. 
Mr. A. J. North, however, in his * Catalogue of the Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, has 
given an exact account of the eggs of this Thrush. Не writes :—“ The home of this species is in 
the thickly-wooded mountain-ranges of the coast. It is very plentiful in the Strzelecki Ranges in 
South Gippsland, frequenting alike the ground and fallen logs, and is a bird easily procured. In 
fact the difficulty in shooting it is to get far enough away from it to avoid damaging the specimen, a 
task which the intervening undergrowth seldom permits, without losing sight of the bird altogether. 
“Тһе nest is a round open structure, outwardly composed of fine strips of bark and mosses, 
lined with roots, the rim of the nest being very thick and rounded. Тһе position of the nest varies 
with the locality in which it is found. In Gippsland it is usually placed between the thick fork 
of an Eucalyptus about seven or eight feet from the ground. At Cheltenham I have found it placed 
at the top of a Melaleuca. It commences to breed about the middle of July, and continues for the 
three following months. 
“The eggs are two in number, elongated in form, in some instances of a pale stone-colour, 
VOL. I. E 
