———— 
PITTA VENUSTA. 
GRACEFUL PITTA. 
Pitta venusta, Müll. Tijdsch. Nat. Gesch. vol. ii. 1835, pl. 9. fig. 4.—Temm. Plan. Col. 1836, no. 590.— 
Mill. & Schleg. Verh. Natuur. Geschied. Ned. overz. Bezitt., Zool. Pitta, 1839-44, pp. 5, 15, 
20.—Gray, Gen. B. vol. i. 1846, p. 213.—Schleg. Vog. Nederl. Ind., Pitta, 1863, pp. 21, 36, pl. v. 
figs. 4, 5.—Id. Mus. P.-Bas, Pitta, 1863, p. 13; 1874, p. 17.—Wall. Ibis, 1864, pp. 104, 107.— 
Nicholson, Ibis, 1883, p. 254 (Sumatra).—Sclat. Cat. B. vol. xiv. 1888, p. 429 (Sumatra, 
Borneo). 
Brachyurus venustus, Bon. Consp. Gen. Av. vol. i. 1850, p. 255.— Elliot, Ibis, 1870, p. 416. 
Erythropitta venusta, Bon. Consp. Vol. Anis. 1854, p. 7. no. 190. 
Brachyurus ( Erythropitta) venustus, Elliot, Mon. Pitt. 1863, pl. xiv. 
HABITAT.—Sumatra. 
Head, neck, upper parts, tail, throat, and breast purplish brown; a narrow blue stripe from behind the 
eye to the occiput ; greater wing-coverts margined with blue; rest of underparts dull red. Bill black ; 
iris brown; feet and tarsi pale blue. Total length 6°5 inches, wing 3°5, tail 2. 
There seems to be little or no difference in the plumage of the sexes, the female possibly having the colour 
less bright. 
In my Monograph of this Family published in 1863, I gave the history of this 
species as it was then known, derived from the volume of Müller and Schlegel, 
l.c. During the time that has passed since my work was finished, no information of 
any consequence regarding the economy and habits of this Pitta, in addition to that 
related by the authors above mentioned, has been obtained. They state that in Sumatra 
they met with but few individuals, and these in the elevated forests whiel cover with 
an almost impenetrable wilderness the south-eastern slope of the voleanie mountains 
Singaling and Tendike as well as the widespread valley through which the river Anee 
flows. It lives for the most part on the ground and feeds upon various kinds of small 
beetles, worms, &c., which it finds among the dry leaves and moss. It was only found 
in thickets, but was occasionally seen sitting on decayed trunks of trees. A nest 
containing two eggs was discovered between the leaves of an orchid that was growing 
upon a trunk of a fallen tree, a few feet above the ground, and was constructed of dry 
leaves, fine roots, moss, decayed fibres, bamboos, and other delicate plants placed loosely 
together. Тһе interior was lined principally with dry leaves. The eges were pure 
white without spots. Mr. Nicholson obtained this Pitta in the forest at about 3000 feet 
elevation, at the foot of the voleano of Kaba. He states that it feeds on small mollusca 
and seeds, and that the legs and feet are a beautiful shade of pale blue. Iris dark brown. 
These authors also state that the young is distinguished by its light colour ; the red on 
the lower part of the belly is very pale, with dark feathers showing through at intervals. 
There is no trace of blue on the wings, and the postocular stripe is mixed with brown 
and is scarcely descernible. Their description was taken from a young female. A 
number of immature specimens are in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia, some of which answer to the description given above by Müller and 
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