6io The Sparrow-like Birds 



the ground at the foot of a tree. The eggs, four in number, are glossy white, 

 spotted with purplish black mainly at the larger end. 



A group of four species of large size, separated from the true Pittas under 

 the name of Hydrornis, have the predominant color of the plumage brown and 

 the sexes similar. Of these perhaps the best-known is the Blue-naped Pitta 

 (H. nipalensis) of the eastern Himalayas and Burma. It is a bird about ten 

 inches long and, in addition to the prevailing brown color, has the hinder part 

 of the head and the nape blue. Closely allied is the Fulvous Pitta (H. oatesi) 

 of Burma and Tenasserim, which has the nape deep brown. According to Mr. 

 Gates both these species frequent the dark gloomy ravines of the evergreen for- 

 ests, spots where the sun seldom penetrates except at midday, and where the 

 vegetation is extremely dense and the ground constantly damp. They feed on 

 worms and large insects, and seldom leave the ground except to mount on a 

 fallen trunk or low branch. They build the usual covered nest of grass and 

 leaves on the ground or in a tangled mass of branches of trees a short distance 

 above the ground. 



In the typical Pittas (Pitta), which number over fifty species, the bill is 

 shorter and less compressed than in those first mentioned, and the tail is short 

 and more or less squared. Many of them are exceedingly brilliant, such, for 

 example, as the Lesser Blue-winged Pitta (P. cyanoptera) of Burma, Siam, and 

 the Malay Peninsula, which is dark green above, with a brown cap, black head 

 and nape, brilliant blue rump, and black white-barred wings, while the throat 

 is white, and the remainder of the under parts deep fawn-color except in the 

 middle of the abdomen and the crissum, which are crimson. A Bornean species 

 (P. granatina) is dull black, glossed with purple above, set off by a bright 

 scarlet cap, and a purplish brown throat and a dull scarlet abdomen, while 

 another gem (P. baudi) from the same island is crimson above, with the nape 

 and sides of the head black, the crown, rump, and tail brilliant blue, and the 

 wing-coverts with a pure white terminal band, while the throat and a spot on 

 each side of the head is pure white and the breast black, passing into purple 

 and blue on the abdomen. Their habits are similar and all construct the domed 

 nests already described. 



Equally brilliant are the five species of the genus Eudchla, which are dis- 

 tinguished from the last by the longer, sharp-pointed tail. Of these Gurney's 

 Pitta (E. gurneyi} of Tenasserim and the northern portion of the Malay Penin- 

 sula is one of the most striking. It is clear brown above, with the front half 

 of the head and nape black and the hinder half brilliant blue, the feathers 

 pointed, while the wings are blackish brown, and the chin whitish, passing into 

 bright yellow on the throat and neck and black on the abdomen, the flanks 

 being yellowish barred with black. It is found in the deep evergreen forests, 

 and is one of the forms that is more or less migratory. Differing from this in 

 possessing a slightly longer tail, and a black instead of a blue crown, is the 

 equally gorgeous Elegant Pitta (E. boschi), which has been selected as the 

 subject of the colored plate; it is a native of the Malay Peninsula and 

 Sumatra. 



