GEOCICHLA MONTICOLA (Жу). 
LARGE BROWN GROUND-THRUSH. 
Zoothera monticola, Vigors, P. 7. S. 1831, p. 172. 
Turdus rostratus, Hodgs. Icon. ined. in Brit. Mus., Passeres, pl. 144. nos. 268, 269, and 
pl. 146. no. 269. 
Geocichla monticola, Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 161 (1881). 
С. suprà schistaceo-brunnea, vix maculata: supercilio pallido nullo: pectore toto nigro maculato : hypochondriis 
sparsim maculatis. 
Turs Ground-Thrush was described by Vigors from a specimen in the collection of the Zoological 
Society, which was afterwards figured by Gould in his * Century of Himalayan Birds! The typical 
specimen appears not to have been taken by the British Museum with the other types belonging to 
the Society's old Museum. 
According to Gray (Cat. Mamm. & Birds of Nepal, 1846, p. 79), the present species was 
described by Hodgson as Turdus rostratus in the * Quarterly Magazine” about the year 1826, from a 
specimen discovered by the last-named naturalist in Nepal. I have never seen the original description 
of Turdus rostratus, and the name must not be allowed to take precedence over that of Vigors, until 
the quotation in the ‘Quarterly Magazine’ can be verified. Until this is done, the name of Turdus 
rostratus must remain as a momen nudum, being attached only to the unpublished drawings of 
Hodgson's in the British Museum. 
The range of this species is not a very wide one, being confined to the Himalayas from the 
Sutlej valley to the Dafla Hills. There are examples in the British Museum obtained by Captain 
Stackhouse Pinwill near Simla, and in the Vienna Museum by Stoliczka (Pelzeln, Ibis, 1868, 
p. 913), while it has been recorded from Masuri (Hutton, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 
xvii. part ii. р. 682), and Hodgson obtained it in Nepal. It is said to be common in Sikkim (Bulger, 
Ibis, 1869, p. 162) and at Darjiling (Blyth, Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the Asiatic 
Society, p. 160). Pemberton met with it in Bhutan (Horsfield & Moore, Birds in the Museum of the 
Hon. East-India Company, i. p. 192), and an example has been procured on the Райа Hills Assam, 
which appears to be the eastern limit of its range (Godwin-Austen, Journal of the Asiatic Society 
of Bengal, xlv. part ii. 1876, p. 72). 
This Ground-Thrush has been very fortunate in the name bestowed upon it by Vigors. So far 
as is known, it ascends the mountains up to 10,000 feet, a greater elevation than that attained by any 
other Ground-Thrush, so high, indeed, that its nest and eggs have not yet been found. It is not an 
uncommon bird in collections; but most of the skins have been brought down from the mountain- 
forests by native collectors, and I cannot find a single published record of its habits. Its migrations 
appear to be very limited, and it does not seem to have wandered far enough down the hills, even in 
the cold season, to have come under the personal observation of many ornithologists. 
Fortunately, however, this bird was met with at Darjeeling, from 6000 to 7000 feet above the 
level of the sea, by Colonel Tickell, whose manuscript work in the library of the Zoological Society of 
London has been already referred to. Colonel Tickell describes it as skulking under bushes, but 
