26o BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
gardens. Now, I think, it is not to be found nearer 
than Anglesea, nor is it plentiful there. I spent a 
fortnight there in October, 191 2, without seeing a 
bird, though two old nests, which had been tenanted 
earlier in the year, were pointed out to me. From 
Airey's westwards it is met with more frequently, and 
at Lome is never hard to get a sight of in the deep 
gullies with huge moss-grown boulders, over which 
the birds trip silently, in search of the small fresh- 
water snails that form a chief part of their diet. 
Roughly it may be said to look something like a 
very large English Thrush. The upper surface is 
olive-brown, each feather having a crescentic mark of 
black at the tip, the under surface white with similar 
black marks on each feather ; so that the bird appears 
to have a heavily-mottled breast. In habits it is 
one of the quietest we have, and is rarely seen in the 
open, preferring the half-lights of the deepest gullies. 
Here one may catch, sometimes, a faint rustle, and 
perceive the Thrush busy among leaf-mould on the 
ground. If disturbed, it flies low down and quietly, 
never going very far. 
In winter and spring, particularly about sunrise 
and sunset, one hears the song of the Ground Thrush, 
not much louder than a Robin's, but varied and sweet. 
It would remind an Englishman of the Robin's winter 
song at home. 
The nest is unmistakable : it is rather larger than 
an English Thrush's, and is lined with rootlets and 
ornamented outside with moss as is no other bird's 
