GrEOCICHLA A UR AT A, Sharpe.
WHITBHBAD’S GROTJND-THRDSH.
Geooichla aurata, Sharpe, Ibis, 1888, p. 478.
G. pileo aurantiaco-castaneo : pectore aurantiaco: dorso et tectricibus alarum majoribus sohistaceis, mediis albc
terminatis: abdomine imo et subcaudalibus alibis, fulvo tinctis.
T his Ground-Thrush was discovered by Mr. John Whitehead on Mount Kina Balu, m Northern
Borneo, in May 1888, and t h e typical specimens are in my.collection. : .
Whitehead’s Ground-Thrush has the dark upper parts of Geooichla ruhecula and the pale underparts
of Geocichlacvtrina. It agrees with these two species, which are obviously its nearest; allies,
and differs from the other species of this little group, in combining the two characters—no white on
the throat, but white tips to the median.wing-coverts. It differs from every other species m
group in having the under tail-coverts suffused with yellow or buff.
I am indebted to Mr. Whitehead for the following note on the habits of this species
“ It was not until my final expedition fiom the village of Melangkap to a spur that runs m a
south-westerly direction from the great central ridge of Kina Balu, that I first met with the genus
Geooichla in Borneo. .
“We had passed the night in the village of the Kappar Dusans, and the following morning
started at daybreak for the forest above the village. We camped about mid-day at an altitude
of 3000 feet, in old forest, and, during the building-operations of our tent-house, an immature
Ground-Thrush was seen hopping about quite dose to the c l e a r i n g we were busy making. Sever“
days later, one or two adult birds were obtained. Geooichla awrata frequents the ground in thic
forest, where it doubtless obtains all its food. The young at the time of my visit had probab y on y
, just left the protection of the paternal w in g ; and birds—I mean parent birds at that peno o
their existence are often most uninteresting; so it would be difficult for me to write the omes ic
history of Geooichla aurata. When in Java I met with G. ruhecula, which species also equente
the ground in the coffee-plantations where the low growth is cleared away, by the natives. n
November, the month of my visit, this'Ground-Thrush often flew up into the lower branches of the
large trees, whence it gave forth a short hut very pleasing song.
The adult male and female do not differ in colour, and may he described as f o llo w sE n t ir e
head and neck orange-chestnut; the rest of the upper parts dark greyish-blue, each feather wit
darker centre; lores orange-chestnut; eye-stripe obsolete; lesser wing-coverts bluish grey, me
wing-coverts bluish-grey, with concealed' black bases and broad white tip s , greater wing coverts
bluish-grey, with brown inner webs; primary-coverts bluish-grey, with dark brown inner we s ,
tertials bluish-grey; secondaries and primaries brown, more or less margined on their outer we s
with bluish-grey; tail-feathers brown, suffused with bluish-grey on both webs of the central Pair an _
on the outer webs of the adjoining three pairs, the two outermost pairs narrowly tipped with white;
ear-coverts orange-chestnut.
Underparts huffish-chestnut, shading into white on the belly and thighs, and into pale ye ow or