28 Mr. A. n. Everett on the 



once^ wlien it may readily be mistaken for the croak of a 

 large frog ; but sometimes it is repeated four or five times 

 rapidly in succession^ when it equally reminds one of the 

 quacking of ducks. Judging from its note and habits, 

 C. pusillus is a Raven rather than a Crow. According to 

 Steere this bird is not confined to the Ealabac-Palawan 

 group of islands, but occurs also in Mindoro. 



*36. Pitta propinqua, Sharpe. 



Brachyurus prupinquvn, Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc, ser. 2, 

 Zool. i. p. 330. 



Pitta propinqua, Sharpe; Sclater, Cat. Birds B. M. xiv. 

 p. 443 (partim) ; Whitehead, Ibis, 1893, p. 505. 



Pitta erythrogastra, Everett, Journ. Str. Br. R. As. Soc. 

 XX. p. 148 [partim). 



Dr. Sharpe founded his Brachyurus propinquus on an adult 

 male bird obtained by Dr. Steere in Balabac. Dr. Steere 

 obtained a second specimen of a red-bellied Pitta, also a male, 

 but in very immature plumage, at Dumalon, near Zamboanga, 

 in Mindanao, and this bird Dr. Sharpe assigned also to 

 B. pjropinquus, though not without hesitation. Owing to the 

 meagre material available, the validity of this species has 

 always been open to question ; and hence I made a point of 

 securing a series of these red-bellied Pittas from Balabac and 

 Palawan, with the result that it has at length become pos- 

 sible to compare adult birds from Balabac with adult birds 

 from Luzon, Mindanao, and Palawan. 



The characters relied upon by Dr. Sharpe as distinguishing 

 P. propinqua from typical P. erythrogastra were : — (1) Back 

 entirely cobalt, including the scapulars ; only the middle of 

 the back green, washed with blue, forming a band across the 

 back. (2) Throat entirely brownish black, becoming jet- 

 black on the fore neck. (3) Chest bright blue, the sides 

 only greenish. (4) Under wing-coverts dull blue, instead of 

 greyish brown. 



Of these characters the last three appear to be of no value, 

 as birds from Luzon and Mindanao present them in greater 

 or less degree, and I have come to the conclusion that they 



