and throat pale brown streaked with dark brown, black on lower throat. Back green. Wing-coverts 
pale brown margined with blue; secondaries green margined with blue; primaries black, with white 
speculum. Upper tail-coverts and tail blue. Entire underparts pale yellowish-brown, with some blue 
and black feathers on the breast, and red ones scattered over the flanks; middle of abdomen and 
crissum pale red. Bill black, tip and basal portion yellow. Feet and tarsi flesh-colour. 
The white on the basal portion of the throat-feathers varies in individuals from different localities, 
sometimes in those from the same habitats, and reduces the black on the apical part as it increases in 
extent. This is shown in a specimen from Wokam, Aru Islands, as mentioned by Salvadori, Ornit. 
Papuas. /. c., which has the throat-feathers for the most part white basally. This would seem to be, 
however, more of an individual character, and can have no specific importance. The Aru Island birds 
appear to be smaller than those from New Guinea, and the occiput is of a less bright rusty-brown, and 
the flanks quite olive-brown, instead of part olive-brown and part greyish-blue as in New Guinea 
specimens, but Waigiou birds also have olive-brown flanks. The young from Kei have longer tarsi even 
than those of the adults. 
This beautiful species was described by Temminck, /. c., from an example, stated to be a 
female, obtained in Bay of Lobo, New Guinea, by Müller and Schlegel. These authors say 
they first met with this Pitta on the western coast of New Guinea, in the large and sombre 
forests in the rear of Oeroe Langeroe, towards the mountain Lamantsjiere, on moist ground 
covered with rice and fallen leaves. They obtained three examples, two males and a 
female, in whose stomachs were the remains of Coleoptera. Its habits differ in no way 
from those of Pitta cyanura (E. quaiana, Müll.), and the above authors state that there is 
no difference in the plumage of the sexes. In the Aru Islands Wallace says that this Pitta 
quite baffled his Malay hunters, but the Papuan boys, creeping stealthily through the thick 
Jungle, shot them with blunt prong-headed arrows, and thus procured many fine specimens. 
In Australia a number of examples of this Pitta have been obtained at Cape York, but 
they cannot be separated specifically from those procured in New Guinea. Although 
bearing a general resemblance to the other species in the red-breasted section of the Pittidæ, 
P. mackloti has many characters to separate it from them all. Some individuals have 
traces of the blue vertical stripe so conspicuous in P. celebensis; but this varies greatly 
among examples, and, as remarked by Sclater, “ curiously enough this feature is most 
apparent in specimens from the extreme end of the range, Mysol and New Britain.” 
Mr. Ramsay described the young bird from New Ireland as distinct, and called it P. nove- 
hibernie, and Salvadori states that he has seen a specimen from New Britain which was 
not to be distinguished from those obtained in New Guinea. Pitta mackloti has quite an 
extensive dispersion, and is found on the island of Jobi in the Bay of Geelvink, but not 
on Misore or Méfoor ; also pretty generally in the north-western portion of New Guinea, 
also at Port Moresby, and in the Astrolabe Range, and on the Fly River in the south- 
eastern portion. The specimens from the Astrolabe Range were considered by Ramsay as 
females of his P. finschi, but were determined by Dr. Finsch to be P. mackloti. 
It also occurs in Cape York, Australia. 
The figures in the Plate were drawn from specimens in the British Museum, and 
represent the adult and young. 
