THE EAIISBOW PITTA. 
109 
^ Birds of Australia/ under the head of Titta stre^itans, 
the differences between the young and adult being very in- 
considerable in marking. Most of the species of JPitta 
are beautifully feathered, the colours generally in bright 
contrasts. One exceeds its neighbour even in this respect, 
the Eainbow Pitta {Titta Iris, Plate VII. hg. 3), found on 
the north coast of Australia. The head, neck, and under 
parts are black ; a band of brown extends from over the eye 
to the back of the head, and reheves the black ; while the 
golden-green of the back and wings is increased in brilliancy, 
not only by the black of the other parts, but by a fine full- 
bodied emerald-green edging on the shoulder, separated 
from the green of the rest of the wing by a blue like that 
of the lapis lazuli. The under tail-coverts, and part of the 
body behind the legs, are of a fine bright scarlet. This bird, 
searching, as Mr. Gould tells us it does, for its insect food, 
among the thick cane- beds near the coast, must form a 
most attractive object even from a distance, and light up to 
the traveller a spot, which without it might look barren. 
S. Miiller and Schlegel"^ describe the Pitta cyanura, a 
common bird in the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, as 
* Monograph of liiUa in book on tlie Dutch. Possessions in the Eastern 
Sea. 
