430 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



having been stolen therefrom, together with some other 

 valuable birds, in the year 1846; and up to the present 

 time the bird has not been again discovered. 



Face and throat deep vermilion red ; the base of all the 

 feathers of the throat black, giving that part a mingled 

 appearance of black and red ; crown of the head, all the upper 

 surface, and wings brown ; rump deep vermilion red ; tail 

 dark brown; chest and all the under surface jet-black, the 

 flanks numerously spotted with white, and the centre of the 

 abdomen dashed with deep vermilion red ; feet light red ; 

 upper mandible black, under mandible scarlet, with a tri- 

 angular patch of black at the base. 



Total length 3 J inches ; bill -^q ; wing 2^ ; tail If ; tarsi f . 



Family MERULID^. 



Genus PITTA, Vieillot. 



The members of this genus extend from India, through- 

 out the islands of the Indian Archipelago to New Guinea and 

 Australia : one species also occurs in Africa. 



Sp. 269. PITTA STREPITANS, Temm. 



Noisy Pitta. 



Pitta strepitans, Temm. PI. Col., 333. 



versicolor, Swains, in Zool. Journ., vol. i. p. 468. 



Brachyurus strepitans, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 254, 



Brachyurus, sp. 5. 

 Colohuris strepitans. Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 3. 



Pitta strepitans, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv. pi. 1. 



This species inhabits the eastern coast of Australia, and is 

 tolerably abundant between the river Macquarrie and Moreton 

 Bay. Specimens from Cape York are smaller in all their ad- 

 measurements ; but the differences, I think, are too trivial to 



