268 ON THE GENUS PITTA. 



of Mysore and no black-headed ones on Jobi ; but at all events, if existing, 

 these must be rare, and they are still to be discovered. 



" There appears to be not the least difference between the Pitta macUoti 

 from Jobi and that from the mainland of Nev^ Guinea, except, perhaps, that 

 the first has the neck redder. 



" On Mafoor I did not get a Pitta ; but Pitta novce guinecB^ M. & Schleg. 

 (Schlegel, Nederl. T. v. d. Dierk, iv. 1873, p. 16), which, however, Schlegel 

 later (Mus. P.-B. Pitta, Rev. 1874, p. 8) separated as Pitta novce guinece 

 mefoorana^ Schleg., was first recorded from there. 



'' It is remarkable that Mysore has a black -headed species which differs 

 much from the typical one, and Mafoor a very near ally of the latter — 

 as Mafoor possesses some other peculiar birds in common wdth Mysore, viz. 

 Nasiterna geelmnkiana^ Lamprotornis magnus, Ptilopus speciosus^ &c. ; but as 

 it contains, on the other hand (just as Mysore), some very pregnant species 

 of its own, viz. Tanysiptera carolince (represented on Mysore by Tanysiptera 

 riedeli), no great stress can be laid on the fact. 



"As our knowledge stands for the moment, the distribution of the 

 Pittas on the islands and the coasts of Geelvink Bay is the following :— 



^^ New Guinea. Mysol. Jobi. Mysore. 



^^ Pitta novce guinece 1 — — — 



Pitta novcB guinece mefoorana . . — 1 — 1 



Pitta rosenbergi — — — 1 



Pitta mackloti 1 — 1 — .'' 



Mr. Gould says, in his ' Birds of New Guinea,' part iv.: — 

 '' In the richness of its colouring and broad sweeping tints on theunder- 

 surface, Pitta rosenbergii will ever rank among the finest of this gorgeous 

 group of birds. The nearest ally to it is the Pitta novce guinece. In 

 Rosenberg's Pitta the lively collar of silvery w^hite on the low^er part of the 

 throat, so conspicuous in Pitta novce guinece, is wanting ; on the other hand, 

 the blue colouring of the flanks is much richer. In size the two birds are 



