ON THE GENUS PITTA. 267 



'' It was, of course, an astonishment to me, when I found the black-headed 

 Pitta plentifully on the island of Mysore. The male cannot be distinguished 

 from the female, except by dissection. The colour of the iris is brown, 

 bill black, feet and claws of a greyish rose-colour in life. In the stomach I 

 only found a few small insects ; and I may mention that on the black head 

 I found a good many red lice. 



'^The special geographical distribution of the Pittas, as well of the 

 black-headed as of those with the whole of the underparts red— each group 

 for itself, and both in relation to each other— offers many points of interest 

 with respect to variations from a primitive type, and also in regard to the 

 conclusions which may be drawn from the actual distribution of the now 

 distinct species, with a view to the former connexion and relation of the 

 separate islands which they at present inhabit. Pittas are certainly birds 

 which cannot cross arms of the sea. I do not, however, wish to enter upon 

 these points here, but only to mention some of the facts which I observed. 



'' On the island of Mysore I did not find a single specimen of the red- 

 bellied Pittas, whose type for the Papuan Islands is P. mackloti, Schlegel. 

 May this be the reason why the black-headed P. rosenbergi is so plentiful 

 there .^ 



'' On the island of Jobi, on the other hand, I only found Pitta mackloti, 

 and no black-headed species. But I cannot say that P. mackloti is a 

 common bird there, as is P. rosenbergi on Mysore ; it is quite as rare as 

 Pittas are generally elsewhere. 



" Besides Pitta rosenbergiy I must except P, mamma from the rule of 

 scarceness. On Halmahera (not Gilolo*, as the island is often wrongly 

 called, after a single district) it really is a very common bird. 



" I do not say that there exist no red-bellied Pittas on the island 



* Gilolo, Halmahera, or Djillolo, the largest of the Moluccas. It is of volcanic origin. — 

 Editor of O. M. 



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