114 BIRD GALLERY. 



interesting as representing the Finches among the Mesomyodian 

 Passeres, and closely resemble these birds in their habits and mode of 

 nesting. In young plantations they are said to do much damage with 

 their strongly serrated bills, cutting off plants close to the ground with 

 no apparent object. 



Family VI. PITTID^E. PITTAS or ANT-THRUSHES. 



[Case 70.] With the exception of the three species which inhabit Africa, the 

 fifty long-legged thrush-like species comprising this family are natives 

 of the Oriental and Australian regions. Almost all the species of Pitta 

 (1782-96) are birds of brilliant plumage, and some have supplementary 

 ornamental plumes on the head and neck, as in Anthocichla phayrii 

 (1797). They frequent the densest jungle and scrub, and are chiefly 

 terrestrial in their habits, their long legs enabling them to hop with 

 great agility and escape with speed at the slightest alarm. Molluscs, 

 insects, and worms form their principal food, and are searched for 

 among the fallen leaves. The nest is a round open structure placed on 

 the ground or in very low forks, and the eggs are creamy-white spotted 

 with red or purplish black. 



Family VII. PHILEPITTID^E. WATTLED ANT-THRUSHES. 



[Case 70.] The sole representatives of this peculiar family are two species of 

 Philepitta (1799), found in Madagascar. They appear to be most nearly 

 allied to the Pittas (Pittidai), but differ in various particulars of their 

 structure, such as the naked orbits surmounted by a fleshy wattle in 

 the male, and the scaling of the tarsi. They appear to be entirely terres- 

 trial in their habits. 



Family VIII. XENICID^. NEW-ZEALAND BUSH-WRENS. 



(Case 70. ] The members of this family are distinguished by various anatomical 

 characters, the arrangement of the syringeal muscles being Mesomyodian. 

 These tiny Wren-like birds are peculiar to the highland forests of 

 New Zealand. The three known genera, Xenicus, Acanthidositta, and 

 Traversia, include only four species. The Rifleman (A. chloris) (1800) 

 is almost entirely arboreal in its habits, actively searching the trees for 

 insects, and places its bottle-shaped nest in holes in trees and in other 

 cavities, laying from three to five white eggs. 



