PITTA RUFIVENTRIS. 
RED-BELLIED PITTA. 
Coloburis rufiventris, Cab. € Hein. Journ. f. Ornith. 1859, p. 406.—-Sclat. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 350 (note). 
Pitta inornata, б. R. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, р. 350 (Batchian and Gilolo). 
Brachyurus rufiventris, Elliot, Mon. Pitt. 1863, pl. xix.—Id. Ibis, 1870, p. 418. 
Pitta rufiventris, Schleg. Vog. Neder. Ind., Pitta, 1863, pp. 17, 34.—Id. Mus. Pays-B., Pitta, 1863, p. 7; 1874, 
p. 12 (Dammar, Obi, Major, and Motir).— Wall. Ibis, 1864, pp. 105, 106.—Finsch, Neu-Guin. 1865, 
p. 167.—Salv. Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. vol. vii. 1875, р. 777; vol. xvi. 1880, р. 185. по. 10.—Id. 
Orn. Papuas. vol. ii. 1881, р. 401.—Sclat. Cat. В. vol. xiv. 1888, p- 434. 
Pitta rubriventris, Schleg. Ned. Tijdsch. vol. iii. 1866, p. 188. 
‚ Erythropitta rufiventris, Gray, Hand-l. vol. i. p. 296. 
HanrrAT.—Batchian, Halmaheira, Dammar, Obi, Major, and Motir (Bernstein). 
Top of head and front dull reddish brown; occiput and nape bright rufous brown; sides of head dull 
brown, with a rufous tinge; back and wings dull greenish; secondaries edged with blue; primaries 
black, with a white spot in centre of 3rd and 4th. Upper tail-coverts pale blue; rectrices black, 
edged with blue. Chin and throat pale brown, whitish in some examples; a broad blue band 
across the breast narrowly margined beneath with black; rest of underparts scarlet. Bill dark 
horn-colour, base of mandible reddish beneath; feet and tarsi pale lead-colour. Length 7 inches, 
wing 35, tail 1:5. No difference in the plumage of the sexes. 
Although described for over forty years, nothing is known of the habits of this Pitta. 
Belonging to the red-breasted section, it is readily distinguished from the others by its 
reddish-brown head and paler throat, green back, and the absence of the black marginal 
line beneath the blue on the breast. It is distributed throughout a number of the islands 
in the Eastern Archipelago, and does not seem to be rare in the districts it inhabits. 
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