Mr. A. R. Wallace on the Genus Pitta. 103 



body; but it produces an effect which I was never weary of 

 admiring, and gave a crowning charm to the excitement and 

 pleasure of P^7/fl-shooting. 



The voice of all the smaller species that I met with was of a 

 constant character, and could easily be distinguished from that 

 of any other bird. It is a plaintive whistle of two notes, the 

 second lengthened out and quickly succeeding the first. When 

 the birds are undisturbed, this cry is repeated at intervals of a 

 minute or two. The large P. maxima and the P. elegans have 

 each three notes of a similar character, according to the testi- 

 mony of my Malay hunter ; and Mr. Jerdon gives three notes 

 also to the P. bengalensis. 



The food of the Pittas consists of various kinds of insects, 

 especially Coleoptera and small Orthoptei'a, and also of worms. 

 Their powerful bill enables them to dig for these latter, as is 

 proved by its often being incrusted with earth. They do not 

 seem to like ants, as I never found these insects in their stomachs, 

 nor do they frequent places where ants most abound. Another 

 consideration would also lead us to the conclusion that to feed on 

 ants is not the part which the Pittas have to play in the economy of 

 nature ; for these insects are everywhere abundant in the tropi- 

 cal forests ; many of the species swarm in countless myriads of 

 individuals, and it is therefore natural to suppose that the birds 

 which could find in them a congenial food would be abundant 

 also, and would be as ubiquitous as the ants themselves. The true 

 Ant-Thrushes [Formicariina) of South America do answer this ' 

 description, which the Pittas do not ; and the comparative scarcity 

 and irregularity of their most congenial food may be one reason 

 why these lovely birds are so invariably scarce and local. 



In the majority of the species the sexes certainly do not differ; in 

 some, however, the fact is doubtful. In the large P. nipalensis, the 

 female, according to Hodgson, is duller coloured and more rufous 

 on the back. Mr. Elliot describes sexual differences in several 

 of the species, especially in P. cyanura, P. elegans, and P. cmrulea, 

 but does not state on what authority he has determined the dif- 

 ferently coloured specimens to be adult and fully plumaged 

 females. Prof. Schlegel, who has obtained these species with the 

 original notes of the naturalists who procured them, seems to 



