l20 



GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



swiftly and gracefully. They are fairly good flyers, but 

 usually keep low down. They seem to feed entirely on 

 insects and other small animals, and they are not at all 

 sociable, being usually seen alone. They do not sing, 

 but their plumage is usually remarkably brilliant and 

 beautiful, and shows a gi'eat variety of patterns. Their 

 nests are domed and placed either on the ground or near 

 it, and they lay spotted eggs. 



The Bengal Pitta {Pitta hrachyura). This species, 

 known to the natives as N owning or " nine colours," is 

 the most familiar of all, being found all over India and 

 Ceylon in the plains. It is to a certain extent migratory, 

 going south in the winter, and returning to the northern 

 provinces in the hot weather and rains, though iome birds 

 appear never to change their quarters. 



In colour it is gi-een above and buff below, with the 

 head broadly streaked with black and drab, the throat 

 white, and a patch under the tail scarlet. On the shoulder 

 of the wing, and just above the root of the very short 

 tail, are patches of intense shining sky-blue, and the 

 flight feathers of the wings are black with a large white 

 patch, as in the House-Mynah. The bill is salmon- 

 coloured and black, and the legs flesh-coloured, the eyes 

 being dark brown. The cock and hen are alike, and 

 the yomig closely resemble them, being merely duller 

 in colour below, where there is also a slight dark 

 edging to the feathers. Some of the skins of this species 

 in the Indian .Aluseum have the back marked with black 

 streaks in the centre of the feathers, both the green and 

 blue portions ; one specimen is \ ery perfectly streaked on 



