PITTA NEPALENSIS. 
NEPAL PITTA. 
Paludicola nepalensis, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1837, vol. vi. p. 103. 
Pitta nuchalis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. xi. 1842, p. 188; vol. xii. 1843, p. 960. 
Heleornis ( Paludicola) nepalensis, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83. 
Pitta nepalensis, Gray, Сеп. В. vol. i. 1846, р. 214.—Id. Cat. Mamm. & B. Nepal, 1863, p. 40.—Blyth, 
Cat. В. Mus. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1849, p. 156 (Darjeeling, Arrakan).—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. 
B. Mus. E. Ind. Co. vol. i. 1854, p. 182 (Darjeeling, Nepal).—Schleg. Mus. P.-Bas, Pitta, 1863, 
p. 2; 1874, p. 4 (Nepal).— Wall. Ibis, 1864, p. 108.-—Gould, B. Asia, vol. v. pl. 79.—Sclat. 
Cat. B. vol. xiv. 1888, p. 414. 
Brachyurus nepalensis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. 1847, p. 153.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. 
vol. i. 1850, p. 253.—Elliot, Ibis, 1870, p. 413. 
Gigantipitta nepalensis, Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anis. 1854, p. 7. no. 176. 
Hydrornis nepalensis, Jerd. В. Ind. vol. 1. 1862, р. 502.—Blyth, В. Burm. 1875, р. 97 (Arrakan, Tenas- 
serim).—Oates, Str. Feath. vol. iii. 1875, p. 337 (Arrakan Hills).—Id. В. Brit. Burm. vol. 1. 
1883, p. 412.—Hume, Str. Feath. vol. viii. 1879, р. 93. 
Brachyurus (Gigantipitta) nepalensis, Elliot, Mon. Pitt. 1863, pl. iii. 
Pitta (Hydrornis) soror, Wardlaw-Ramsay, Ibis, 1881, p. 496, juv. ? 
Hasırar.—Nepal, Assam to Pegu. 
Male. Front, crown, and ear-coverts dark buff; occiput and nape blue; back and wings green, feathers 
of latter edged with pale brown; primaries rufous-brown ; throat whitish. Underparts dark buff. 
Tail greenish, margined with pale brown; under-coverts whitish. Bill: maxilla dark brown, mandible 
reddish. Feet flesh-colour. Length 10 inches, wing 42, tail 24, tarsus 24. 
Hodgson states that the males, when in full plumage (by which I suppose he means during the 
breeding-season), have large buff spots at the end of each feather, but are without these at other 
periods of the year. 
Female like the male, but the occiput and nape are bluish green instead of blue. 
Young. Upper parts blackish-brown, with pale brown tear-shaped spots at end of feathers; lighter 
beneath and covered with large brownish-pink spots. Bill yellow. | 
This species, one of the large size, or Great Pittas, has been known to ornithologists 
for many years, as the above long list of synonyms will testify. According to Oates, 
l. c., the Blue-naped Pitta, as it is sometimes called, occurs in Cachar and other parts 
of the hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal, and also in the Himalayas from Assam up to 
Nepal. Its habits are very similar to those of Pitta oatesi. Hume found the nest in 
Sikhim in May ; it was composed of a mass of green leaves placed upon the ground 
at the root of a bush, and contained three white eggs spotted with purple. It has 
also been procured by Oates on the Arrakan Hills near Nyoungyo, and Sir Arthur Phayre 
sent it to Blyth from some part of the Arrakan division. "These are the only records 
from British Burmah, and Mr. Oates does not think the species will be found east of 
the Irrawaddy river. Jerdon, l. c., states that this large Ground-Thrush “is found in 
«39 the South-east Himalayas, in Nepal, Sikhim, and in Arrakan, and also їп the hill-ranges 
of Assam. It is not very rare in the warm valley about Darjeeling, being generally 
found near the banks of streams in forests or thick underwood.” Hodgson, the describer 
