313 



a (lull red un the nape and upper portion of the hind neck, the croun of the head with a fe.w indistinct 

 bluish streak-s; chin and cheeks brown; feathers around the eye and the ear-coverts broum washed with 

 blue, which is more pronounced on the tips of the latter: throat black, followed by a broad blue band 

 across the fore neck and chest, and margined below u-ith a narrow band of black; sides of the fore neck 

 and chest dull green; remainder of the under surface and tinder tail-coverts bright scarlet; bill (of 

 skin) brown; legs and feet brown. Total length 7-1 inches, wing Jpl, tail 1-7, bill 0-9, tarsus plj. 



Adui.t female — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distyibutwu—CsLpe York I'eninsula (Northern Queensland), New Guinea, Aru Islands. 



MACKLOT'S Pitta has a wide ultra- Australian range, occuring in New Guinea and the 

 Papuan Islands, Waigiou, Sahvatti, Mysol and thf- Aru Islands. Of four specimens 

 in the Australian Museum collection, all are labelled " Cape York," two of them, presumably by 

 the tickets, obtained by the late Mr. J. A. Thorpe, while in company with the late Mr. James 

 Cockerell. The late Mr. Gerard Krefft, a former Curator of this institution, first drew attention 

 to the occurrence of this species in Australia in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 

 1867." -■■■ Mr. H. G. Barnard also obtained skins of this species at Somerset, Cape York, m 

 1896^ I have never seen a specimen, or heard of it being recorded in any collection formed in 

 Australia, except on the northern portion of the Cape York Peninsula. From information 

 supplied by the late Mr. James Cockerell, Gould remarks as follows in the Supplement to his 

 "Birds of Australia ":—" P/«.! mackloti inhabits thick viny scrubs based with stones, and 

 overrun with rank herbage of various kinds. Its mournful whistle, which is most frequently 

 uttered near sundown, is very deceptive, appearing to come from an opposite direction to that 

 in which the bird is stationed ; it is, in fact, a perfect ventriloquist. It sometimes leaves the 

 ground, and may occasionally be seen perched on the tops of the highest trees, where it sits very 

 close. One of the nests of this bird found by Mr. Cockerell, was placed in the head of a stump, 

 about six or seven feet from the ground ; it was a loose structure of interlaced grasses and fine 

 woody fibres." i 



Mr. Bertie L. Jardine, of Somerset, has sent me the following notes :— " Pitta mackloti 

 inhabits the large scrubs in the centre of the extreme northern portion of the Cape York Peninsula. 

 It is migratory in habits, arriving annually in great numbers, probably from New Guinea, but 

 personally I have never seen, or do I know of any one who has seen them during their migratory 

 passa-e. The first arrivals may be observed about the middle of November, hopping along the 

 ground with the greatest rapidity, and much resembling in their actions the Northern Scrub 

 Robin (Dvymacedus supcniliaHs). It is very fond of perching on a log or stone, and uttering a 

 whistling note, resembling in sound as nearly as letters can express it ' Wantok watch.' 

 Macklot's Pitta is undoubtedly a nocturnal species, as its cry may be heard all through the 

 the ni-ht especially so in damp and cloudy weather. We also found it to be very destructive 

 to newly planted maize. It must be quite an expert at locating the seeds in the drills, as these 

 depredations are always committed during the night." 



The e-cs are three or four in number for a sitting, and vary from thick oval to compressed 

 oval in form, some specimens being almost true ellipses, the shell being close-grained, smooth 

 and more or less lustrous. Typically they are of a creamy-white ground colour, which is dotted, 

 spotted and blotched all over with irregular-shaped markings of purplish-brown intermmgled 

 with underlying spots and blotches of purplish-lilac and bluish-grey. A set of three measures :- 

 Length (A) 1-2 x o-g inches; (B) 1-23 x o-88 inches; (C) 1-21 x o-gi inches. Other 

 specimens have the creamy-wiiite ground colour more or less obscured by numerous indistinct 

 blotches, .mears and scratches of pale vinous-purple, intermingled^ with underlying clouded 

 ^^ProcrZool. Soc, X867, p. 319^ tBds. Aust., SuppK. text opp. pi. 29 (1S69). 



