Birds of the Philippine Islands. 457 



73. Pitta KocHijBriiggcmanu; Sclater^ Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xiv. p. 433 (1888). 



The finding of a new species of bird mnst be at all times 

 immensely pleasing to the collector, making up to him in 

 some measure for the many hardships he has to endure, but 

 when he suddenly comes on some long-lost type of a mag- 

 nificent bird like Koch's Pitta, it must, in my opinion, be 

 even more satisfactory and important than the discovery of 

 any novelty. Mr. Whitehead, during his present expedition, 

 in addition to the new birds he discovered, has made two 

 great ornithological finds, the first being the rediscovery of 

 this almost unknown species, known only from the adult type 

 in the Darmstadt Museum and from an immature bird in the 

 Paris Museum, the second being of course Marchess Fruit- 

 Pigeon, mentioned below. This splendid Ant-Thrush is 

 represented in the present collection by a small series, in- 

 cluding adults and young of both sexes, and showing all the 

 various intermediate stages of plumage. The type specimen, 

 described by Dr. Briiggemann [Abh. nat. Ver. Bremen, v. p. 65, 

 pi. iii. fig. 6 (a wretched woodcut showing the head only)], 

 was obtained by a collector named Othberg, no particulars 

 whatever being given regarding its capture. The type speci- 

 men was, however, on the whole well figured by Gould 

 ('Birds of Asia,^ v. pi. 71, 1880), though the general colour 

 above should be dark olive, not dull olive-brown. In Elliotts 

 recently published 2nd edition of the ' Monograph of the 

 Pittidse,' pi. xxvi. (1894), we find an indifi'erent copy of the 

 original plate in Gould ; the upper parts are here coloured 

 brown, and absolutely unlike the birds before us ; the forehead 

 and crown, too, are described as dark olive-brown, whereas 

 they are really brownish black. Further, the artist has also 

 taken upon himself the responsibility of depicting the upper 

 figure as having the middle of the lower breast and belly light 

 brown, but there is no trace of this either in Gould's original 

 figure or in any of the birds before us. I must also draw 

 attention to a certain want of accuracy in the letterpress to 

 this plate, the bird being called throughout Pitta kocki, 

 though it was, of course, named in honour of Dr. G. v. 



