IP L .A. T IE XLY. 



PITTA IEIS (Gould). 



RAINBOW PITTA. 



THIS species, of which very little is known, inhabits the northern part of Australia, especially the 

 Cobourg Peninsula. It is found among the cane-beds and swampy places near the coast. 



Unfortunately, next to nothing is known of its habits and manner of breeding. 



The head, neck, breast, abdomen and thighs are black ; over the eye, extending to the 

 occiput, is a band of ferruginous brown ; upper surface and wings, green ; shoulders very light green ; 

 tail, black, tipped with green ; vent and under tail-coverts, scarlet, separated from the black of the 

 abdomen by an irregular band of yellowish-brown ; irides, light brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, light 

 olive-brown. 



Total length, 7 inches ; bill, lJ- inch ; wing, 4 inches ; tail, If inch : tarsi, 1^ inch. 

 Habitat : North Coast of Australia. 



GENUS PITTA (Veillor). 



THIS genus has an extensive range from India through all the islands between there and Australia. 

 Four species are found in the latter country. 



PITTA MACKLOTI (Mm a. Schley). 



MACKLOTS PITTA. 



THE home of this Pitta is Cape York Peninsula, on the north coast of Australia, and also New 

 Guinea and some of the adjacent islands. It is fairly abundant there, particularly in rocky places 

 overgrown with scrub and creeping plants. 



It chiefly remains on the ground, but sometimes perches on the top branches of a tree, where, 

 on account of its stillness, it generally eludes observation. Even its whistle does not betray it, since it 

 is a perfect ventriloquist, the note always seeming to come from a totally different part of the forest. 



The nest is placed in a small tree or stump, often within reach of the hand. It is composed of 

 grasses and vegetable fibres. The eggs, three in number, are of a creamy-white colour, streaked and 

 speckled all over with purple. They vary in size, but average about one inch and a sixteenth in length, 

 and about seven-eighths of an inch in width. 



The crown of the head, throat, ear-coverts and back of the neck are dark reddish-brown ; upper 

 part of the chest, black ; across the chest is a broad band of light-blue, below which is a narrow one of 

 black ; all the rest of the under surface, scarlet ; back and scapularies, dark green ; wing-coverts and 

 secondaries, blue ; a white spot on the shoulder ; primaries, black, the third and fourth having a patch 

 of white near the base ; rump and tail, blue ; irides, brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, light brown. 



Habitats : Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea, and other islands near. 



