414 ' BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
migratory. Mr. Davison observed it in Tenasserim only from March 
to J uly. He says : — They are extremely shy^ and not at all like the other 
Pittas. Directly they catch sight of you they rise^ flying low but rapidly, 
and not alighting under 200 or 300 yards^ when, of course, in the dense 
forests where alone they occur, all trace of them is lost. They doubtless 
must call; but I have never heard their note to distinguish it. My 
specimens had fed entirely on large black ants."*^ 
Genus PITTA, YieilL 
385. PITTA CUCULLATA. 
THE GREEN-BREASTED PITTA. 
Pitta cucuUata, Hartl. Rev. Zool. 1843, p. 65; Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 504; Davison^ 
S. F. V. p. 457 ; Hume ^ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 243 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 94. Bra- 
chyurus cucuUatus, Elliot, Mon. Pitt. pL xxviii. ; id. Ibis, 1870, p. 420 ; HumCj 
S. F. iii. p. 109 ; Bl. Sf Wald. B. Burm. p. 98. 
Description. — Male and female. The head from the nostrils to the nape 
rich rufous-brown ; lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, chin, throat and a collar 
surrounding the head black ; breast and sides of the body pale greenish 
blue ; the abdomen black ; lower abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts 
crimson ; back, scapulars and rump dark glossy green ; upper tail-coverts 
and all the smaller wing- coverts bright ultramarine-blue ; primaries black, 
with a large white patch on each feather ; secondaries black, with the 
terminal half of the outer webs edged broadly with greenish blue ; tertiaries 
wholly dark green ; the larger wing-coverts dull green ; tail black, tipped 
with blue ; under wing-coverts black. 
Bill black ; inside of mouth dusky fleshy ; iris dark coffee-brown ; eye- 
lids plumbeous ; legs and claws fleshy pink. 
Length 7*5 inches, tail 1*6, wing 4*5, tarsus 1'7, bill from gape 1*05. 
The female is of the same size. 
The Green-breasted Pitta appears to be generally distributed over British 
Burmah in suitable localities. I observed it to be plentiful on the Pegu 
hills between Thayetmyo and Tonghoo and in the jungle round Pegu 
and Kyeikpadein. In Tenasserim Mr. Davison procured it at Amherst, 
Bankasoon and Malewoon, and it will probably be found in every part of 
the Division. Mr. Blyth records it from Arrakan. 
It is known to occur in the Malay peninsula as far at least as Malacca, 
and Dr. Tiraud states that it is found in Cochin China. It extends to the 
hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal, Assam, Sikhim and Nipal. 
