540 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



and lower-parts fulvous ; a broad median band extends from the forehead to the 

 nape ; the back scapulars and upper - rump are green ; the lower-rump, upper 

 tail - coverts, and lesser wing - coverts pale blue ; a broad black band passes 



over the eye ; the primaries are 

 black, tipped with grey ; the tail 

 is black, tipped with dull blue ; 

 the chin and throat are white, 

 and the lower abdomen and 

 under tail-coverts crimson. The 

 blue pitta (P. cyanea) which 

 is found in Bhutan, Arrakan, 

 Pegu, Tenasserim, and as far east 

 as Siam, is a bird of considerable 

 beauty, though far inferior in 

 lustre to many of the Malayan 

 species of the genus. Like other 

 members of the family, it lives 

 principally in dense scrub and 

 jungle, obtaining its insect-prey 

 upon the ground. It begins to 

 build its nest in the month of May, making a huge globular structure of dry 

 leaves and twigs, placed upon the ground, and lined with fine twigs and grass 

 roots. The eggs are white in ground-colour, marked with various shades of purple. 

 The adult male has the forehead and crown greenish grey, changing to red, and 

 giving place entirely to red on the nape, where the feathers are long and form a 

 crest ; the upper-parts and tail are blue, the primaries brown, with a white basal 

 patch, the lores and a broad streak from the eye to the nape black, the chin and 

 throat whitish, and the lower-parts light blue, barred with black. 



THE BLUE PITTA. 



THE WOOD-HEWERS. 



Family DENDROCOLAPTID^. 



The wood-hewers are birds chiefly of a brown coloration, with more or less 

 rigid tail-feathers ; having the bill long or moderate and laterally compressed, and 

 rather strong, straight, or curved ; while the third, fourth, and fifth quills of the 

 wing are the longest, the tail-feathers are stiff, pointed, and often of a ferruginous 

 colour, and the claws of the feet are much curved. Upwards of two hundred and 

 twenty species of wood-hewers are found, ranging from Mexico to Patagonia; 

 no fewer than thirteen of these genera being confined to the high Andes and 

 south temperate America, while fourteen are restricted to the tropical parts 

 of South America. A single species is found in the Falkland Isles. Among 

 this vast assemblage, the limits of space prevent our referring to more than two 

 of the genera. 



The oven-birds (Furnarius) have the bill shorter than the 

 head, laterally compressed and pointed, the upper mandible being 



Oven-Birds. 



