search of insects and fallen berries. The song of the male in spring is described as sweet and loud,
but at other seasons of the year the birds are said to be shy and silent.
•The breeding-season in the Himalayas appears to be from April to July, according to climate,
and Mr. Hume states that the species nests between 1500 and 5000 feet elevation. The nest he:
describes as “ rather broad and cup-shaped, made of moss, grass, and very fine twigs or fir-needles,
lined with fine moss-roots, and at times a little hair, measuring some 6 inches in diameter, and with
a cavity about 3 5 inches broad and 1-76 inch deep. The nest is placed in some fork of a moderatesized
tree, in the case of all that I have seen, at no great height from the ground.”
From Masuri, Captain Hutton writes:—“ It breeds in June, placing the nest in the forky
branches of lofty trees, such as oak and wild cherry. Externally it is composed of coarse dry grasses,
somewhat neatly interwoven on the sides, but hanging down in long straggling ends from the bottom;
within this is a layer of green moss, and another of fine dry woody stalks of small plants, and at the
bottom a scanty lining of fine roots,”
A nest sent by Mandelli from Darjiling is described by Mr. Hume as follows: “ Placed in the
fork of a bamboo-cluster at about five feet from the ground, and is a very loose untidy structure, composed
exteriorly of dead leaves, bamboo-spathes, a few twigs, and pieces of decayed bamboo, all wound
together with Vegetable- fibre. The whole of the nest is composed of much the same materials,
except that interiorly there are more chips of rotten bamboo and more vegetable' fibre and very little
dead leaf; there is a mere pretence of a lining, a dozen or so very fine wire-like twigs being wound
round at the bottom of the cavity.”
The eggs are three or four, rarely five, in number, of a pale greyish green, mottled and speckled
with reddish brown, principally round the larger end. They vary in'length from IT to(0:8.2 inch,
and in width 0’7 to OS2 inch. The underlying spots are dark purple.
The present bird appears to be most nearly related to the Javan species, Geocichla rubecnla,
which differs from the Indian form in being darker in colour, both above and below. On the other
hand, the Malay 9. innotata appears to be as closely related to the Andaman species, Geocichla
andamanensis, from which it principally differs in size and in the colour of the crown. Geocichla
albigulans is also very closely related to G. innotata, but is smaller, and is easily distinguished by
the white on its lores, ear-coverts, and throat. Geocichla cyanonota is much more distinct; the
dark bands across the ear-coverts, only seen in immature examples of the other^ specie^ are
retained through life, and, with the white throat, prevent any doubt attaching to its identification.
Geocichla everetti is by far the most distinct, as it shows no trace whatever of any orange-chestnut on
the crown, which is of precisely the same colour as the rest of the upper parts. On the other hand,
the other Bornean species, Geocichla aurata, is extremely close to the Indian Orange-headed Ground-
Thrush, principally differing from it in the apparently trivial points of being slightly darker on the
upper parts, and of having the under tail-coverts slightly suffused with yellow.
r The adult male may be described as follow*. , -
Entire head and neck orange-chestnut; the rest of the upper parts greyish-blue, each feather
with a darker centre ; lores orange-cinnamon; eye-stripe obsolete; lesser wing-coverts greyish-blue;
median wing-coverts greyish-blue, with concealed black bases and broad white tip s; greater wing-
coverts greyish-blue, with dark brown inner webs; primary-coverts greyish-blue, with nearly black
inner webs; tertials greyish-blue; secondaries and primaries brown, margined with greyish-blue on
the unemar^nated portion of the outer webs; centre tail-feathers and outer webs of the others bluish-
grey, the rest brown, the lateral pair narrowly tipped with white; ear-coverts orange-chestnut;
underparts buffish-chestnut, shading into white on the vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts ; axfflanes
bluish-grey, with white bases; lower primary-coverts bluish-grey; lower secondary-coverts white,
with bluish-grey bases.
Geocichline markings on inner webs of quills, white.
Bill dark brown, paler at the base of the under mandible. Second primary intermediate in
length between the fifth and seventh; legs, feet, and claws flesh-colour; outer tail-feathers 0T inch
shorter than the longest. H |
Length of wing 4-8 to 4-4 inches, tail 3*15 to 2-85 inches, culmen 0'95 to 0 8 inch, tarsus 1‘35 to
1-2 inch; bastard-primary projecting slightly beyond the primary-coverts, its exposed portion measuring
1-1 to Q'9 inch. . t ,.
The pattern of colour is precisely the same in the female, but in most cases the greyish-blue ot
the upper parts is more or less suffused with green, which apparently almost, if not quite, disappears
with age, every intermediate stage being found in sexed females.
Young in first plumage of both sexes have the crown and nape much browner than m adults, and
the mantle much, more rufous, the feathers of all these parts having pale shaft-streaks. The median
wing-coverts are dark brown, with large rufous fan-shaped terminal spots; and the greater wing-
coverts are greyish-blue, with small rufous tips. ‘There are two broad dark bars across the ear-coverts;
the throat is rusty-white, surrounded by an obscure black gorget, and the breast and flank-feathers
have obscure pale centres and obscure black tips ; but the Geocichline markings on the inner webs of
the quills are white, as in the adult.
I f it be safe to generalize from two young males and one young female, it would appear that the
.males moult direct from the first plumage to the greyish-blue of the adult on the back, whilst the
females moult to the greyish-green of the usual female dress.
The bird of the year of both sexes has apparently more or less distinct traces of rusty or white
tips to the greater wing-coverts.
Females vary very much in the amount of green on the back and rump, and both sexes vary
somewhat in the orange-chestnut of the crown and nape, which is occasionally, in what appear to be
newly moulted examples, almost as dark as in typical specimens of Geocichla rubecula. Otherwise
the colours in this species are remarkably constant, with the striking exception of the amount of
white at the end of the median wing-coverts.