GROUND THRUSH. 
by it are shady creeks and gullies and the thick scrub on mountain sides ; 
moist places are most in favour. It feeds on seeds and insects, the latter 
almost entirely procured from out of the ground or from among the fallen 
leaves and twigs. It will dart along the rows of vegetables, stop suddenly 
and, with swift movement, snatch up some succulent grub, then more briskly 
hurry on. It seldom employs its wings, which are not strong, but trusts rather 
to its feet. The rapidity with which it can get from place to place is astonish- 
ing. The note is a very pretty, low whistle, to be heard early in the morning 
and at dusk.” 
When Gould proposed the genus Oreocincla he named as types the 
Oreocincla novceholla?idice and T urdus varius Horsfield ; at the same time 
he proposed as a new species Oreocincla macrorhyncha from New Zealand or 
Van Diemen’s Land. The former name was never afterwards made use of. 
When Gray examined the Lambert drawings he identified with it Latham’s 
Turdus lunulatus, and Gould immediately accepted the identity. It may be 
of interest to note that Bonaparte recorded it incorrectly as follows : 
“ Oreocincla novcehollandice clu continent australasien et Or. lunulata de la 
terre de Van-Diemen, que son gros bee a fait nommer macrorhyncha par Gould, 
sur des exemplaires crus a tort de la Nouvelle Zelande.” 
In this case Gould almost immediately recognised that the variation was 
comparatively inconstant and synonymised macrorhyncha with lunulata. 
Some jmars afterward Cabanis named a species of this group supposed to have 
come from Japan, and twenty years later still Gould described a new species 
from Queensland. It was almost immediately discovered that Gould’s new 
species was the same as that of Cabanis, and consequently the locality given 
by Cabanis was wrong. A new species was later still proposed by De Vis 
from the Herberton district. North Queensland. 
Dealing with the birds of Kangaroo Island, A. G. Campbell wrote : 
“ Geocichla lunulata (? variety). A single specimen procured was youthful, and 
has a short bill. Two other birds were noticed that had just left the nest, were 
being fed by their parents, and had a curious circlet of down still about the 
head. This, however, approximates to the Tasmanian species, G. macrorhyncha , 
on account of its darker plumage. Both insular forms have the black crescent 
edging to the feathers of the upper surface broadest on the crown, while in 
G. lunulata the markings are narrowest in that part. About the breast, also, 
the crescent marks of the under-parts become broader and form a thick dark 
patch. For this I would suggest that the name halmaturina be subspecifically 
applied to Geocichla lunulata .” 
Reviewing the species for the purpose of my “ Reference List ” 1912, 
I concluded that all the variations were of subspecific value only, and further- 
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