PITTA COCCINEA, Eyton. 



Malaccan Pitta. 



Pitta coccinea, Eyton, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1839, p. 104.— Blyth, Journ. Asiatic Soc. Beng. 



xii. p. 961. 

 Pitta granatina, Moore (nee Temm.), Proceedings Zool. Soc. 1854, p. 274.— Horsf. & Moore, Cat. Birds Mus. 



East-India Co. i. p. 184. 

 Erythropitta coccinea, Walden, Ibis, 1872, p. 374. 



I cannot understand the hesitation with which certain ornithologists have regarded the specific differences 

 between the present bird and the nearly allied Pitta granatina of Borneo. Although the characters which 

 separate these birds may be considered slight, they are perfectly constant, and there seems to be no transition 

 between the Malaccan species, with its narrow black forehead, and the Bornean bird, which has a black 

 forehead of nearly double the width. The late Marquis of Tweeddale, the greatness of whose loss to 

 ornithology is scarcely yet perfectly estimated, expressed a strong opinion upon the question of these species 

 as far back as the year 1872. He wrote : — " I concur with Mr. Gould in regarding the Bornean bird as 

 specifically distinct from that of Malacca (E. coccinea, Eyton). The following points of difference appear to 

 be constant in Erythropitta granatina : — The black on the forehead recedes more from the base of the bill, 

 and occupies more space, thus diminishing the extent of crimson. The shade of crimson is darker, being- 

 deep cherry-red, and not vermilion. The blue stripes on the sides of the head and the blue wing-coverts 

 are distinctly paler ; on the other hand, the back is very much darker, and glossed with a totally different 

 shade of purple. The red of the abdominal region and under tail-coverts is conspicuously deeper." I may 

 mention also that Count Salvadori likewise concurs in the advisability of separating these two species of 

 Pitta. Mr. Elliot in his review of the Pittidse, published in 'The Ibis' for 1870, still adheres to his 

 formerly expressed opinion that these two species should be united, though he does not fail to notice the 

 difference in the breadth of the frontal band. In the woodcuts which he has given, however, the figures 

 are transposed, and figure 4, which represents P. coccinea, is mis-named fig. 3 in the letterpress of his paper. 



According to Mr. Eyton the present species is called by the Malays " Mortua plando," while Dr. Cantor 

 gives the Malayan name as "Allo-allo." Nothing has yet been published on its habits. The figures in the 

 Plate, which represent the species of the natural size, have been drawn from examples in my own possession. 



It would appear that, as in the Bornean species, the colouring of the sexes is the same. 



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