414 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



Genus PITTA Vieillot, 1816. 



Bill stout and compressed; culmen curved; gonys sliglitly curved; 

 nostrils large and oval, entirely exposed; rictal and frontal bristles very 

 short; wings short and curved to the body; first primary nearly as long 

 as second, fourth longest; secondaries shorter than the primaries by the 

 length of hind toe without claw; tail short, soft, and square, scarcely 

 longer than its under coverts; tarsus and toes well developed, the former 

 longer than tail and the latter extending entirely beyond the tip of tail. 

 Colors various combinations of black, white, brown, bright scarlet, green, 

 and blue. 



Species. 



a\ Entire abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts bright red. 



6*. Smaller ; tarsus, less than 38 mm. ; secondaries and secondai-y-coverts dark 

 blue, 

 c^. Back entirely green, including the scapulars; chest green with a slight 



wash of blue on the central portion erythrogastra (p. 414) 



(f. Back, including the scapulars, entirely cobalt ; chest bright blue, only 



the sides greenish propinqua (p. 416) 



6'. Larger; tarsus, more than 45 mm.; secondaries and secondary-coverts olive- 

 green kochi (p. 417) 



a". Only the under tail-coverts, crissum, and middle of abdomen red. 

 6^ Throat and chin entirely black. 



c\ Smaller (atricapilla (p. 418) 



Irothschildl (p. 420) 



c^ Larger mulleri (p. 419) 



6'. Throat mostly white. 



c'. Breast and sides light blue steeri (p. 420) 



c". Breast and sides fawn moluccensis (p. 421) 



379. PITTA ERYTHROGASTRA Temminck. 

 RED-BREASTED PITTA.* 



Pitta erythrogastra Temminck, PI. Col. (1823), 212; Sclatee, Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus. (1888), 14, 432; Gbant, Ibis (1896), 121; Whitehead, 

 Ibis (1899), 243 (critical remarks on Pitta propinqua). 



Pitta erythrogaster Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 182; McGregor and Wor- 

 cester, Hand-List (1906), 68. 



A-li-mu-cung, Ticao; hu-hu-co, Ticao and Masbate; li-o-co, Manila. 



Basilan (Everett, Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; Bohol (McGregor) ; Bon- 

 gao (Everett) ; Cagayancillo (McGregor) ; Camiguin N. (McGregor) ; Calamianes 

 (Bourns d Worcester) ; Cebu (Bourns d Worcester) ; Guimaras (Steere Exp.) ; 

 Lubang (McGregor) ; Luzon (Cuming, Heriot, Steere Exp., McGregor, White- 

 head) ; Marinduque (Steere Exp.) ; Masbate (McGregor, Bourns d Worcester) ; 

 Mindanao (Steere, Murray, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns d Worcester, Goodfellow, 



* The pittas are kno\vn to some authors as "ant thrushes" but the latter name 

 belongs properly to certain members of the South American family Formicariidce. 

 The name "ground thrush" appears to have greater validity as the English name 

 for the Pittidcc, but the use of tlie name "thrush" in connection with this family 

 is misleading and unnecessary. 



