54 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
as the pheasant, so that it fits close to the body like a waistcoat, 
and into this the bird is pushed. It is then fastened and the bird 
finds himself squatting in a tailor-made basket in which he has 
to remain in a sitting position without being able to move his 
wings, with his long tail sticking out of a hole at one end. In this 
way he can be carried about without doing himself the slightest 
injury, or even making any attempt to struggle. It is rather a 
comical sight to see an Annamite walking along carrying a small 
basket, a tail as long as a peacock’s protruding from it with the 
rest of the bird concealed. 
All the pheasants of this region are caught in the same manner, 
and also other ground-dwelling birds such as pittas and ground 
cuckoos. The former belong to a family of gorgeously marked 
birds about the size of a thrush, or larger according to species, 
though more plump and with short tails; the most beautiful one 
here was called Elliot’s Pitta. This is not only one of the prettiest 
of a very beautiful family, but is surpassed by few Asiatic birds in 
any other group. The cock has back and breast pale green, under 
parts golden yellow barred with transverse black stripes, bright 
blue tail, and middle of the belly deep indigo blue. Up to 1927 
this species was known only by two skins in the Paris Museum. 
As far as I know no European has ever seen this bird alive in 
the wild state, but it is actually quite common in the forests above 
Thua Luu. The Annamites brought us a number of them in 
baskets, which they had no difficulty in trapping. 
Pittas, which are mainly Asiatic birds—though a few species are 
found in Africa and Australia—are undoubtedly more common 
than is generally supposed. They all live on the floor of tropical 
forests, and as they have an acute sense of hearing, are fast runners, 
and are clever at concealing themselves, they have little difficulty 
in escaping detection. Any person encroaching on their domain is 
bound to make some warning noise, however slight, whilst walk- 
ing over leaves and sticks or pushing through undergrowth. 
During the months that I spent trapping in the Indo-Chinese 
forests I saw pittas only twice, and they were a large species 
known as the Annamese Pitta, with a green back, bluish head and 
rump, and with under parts buff tinged with mauve. On both 
occasions I was sitting quite still on a log watching the bird-life— 
