2 
Pittas. 
from Xcwton's Dictionary of Birds, in cxtcnso, as to their 
position in the bird-world, etc. 
" Pitta, from the 'i'clugu Pitta, meaning <t small bird, lalini.sed by 
\'ieillot in 1816 as the name of a genus, and since adopted by English orni- 
t'liologists as the general name for a group of Itirds, called by the French 
lU'cxH's, and remarkable for their great beauty. l""or a long time the Pittas 
were commonly supposed to be alhed to the Turdidae, and some English 
writers applied to them the names of " (iRorxD-TiiRUSHEs," "Water- 
Thrushes," and " .AxT-TnRusHi;s," to the first of which the group has some 
prescriptive right ; but the second and third are misapplied since there is no 
evidence of their having aquatic habits, or of their preying especially upon 
ants. The fact that they had nothing to do with Thru.shks, but formed a 
separate Family, was generally admitted. In 1847 Prof. Cabanis placed 
tlicm under the Ci..\m.\torics, and their position was at last determined by 
( rarrod, who, having ol)tained examples for dissection, proved {Froc, Zool, 
Soc. 1876, pp. 512, 513) that the Pitiidae belonged to that section of Passerine 
I5irds which he named Mesomyodi. This in itself was an unexpected deter- 
mination, for all the other birds, as then known, inhabit the New World, 
where no Pittas occur. liut it is l)orne out by, and may even serve to 
explain, the sporadic distribution of the latter, which seems to indicate them 
ic be the survivors ot a somewh.'it ancient and lower order of Passeres. 
Indeed except in some theory of tliip kind the distribution of the Pittas is 
inexplicable. They form a very homogeneous Family, most of the members 
bearing an unmistakable resemblance to each other — though the species 
inhabit countries so fa.r apart as .Angola and China, India and Australia; and, 
to judge from the little that has been recorded, they are all of terrestrial 
habit, while their power of flight, owing to their short wings, is feeble. In 
18S8 Mr Sclater (I'.M. Cat. xiv., pp. .111-4491 recognised 4 genera. They 
are Anthocincla with a single species from Tenasserim. remarkable for the 
tuft ot elongated feathers on each side of its nape - Pitta with 43 species (to 
which by now more than one has been ;iddedl of wide distribution: EncicliUi 
wth 5 species, all from the Tndo Malay countries: and " Melampitta " 
(.Schlegal), with a single spcdes from New Cuir.ea. which after all may not 
belong to the Family Most of tht» true Pittas ;,'-e frfm the Malay archi- 
pelago, between the e;istern and western divisions of which they are prett\' 
e-juallv divided: and. in ?.1'\ Wallace's o] cnion, they attain their ma.ximun; of 
■■iMVfv .and varietv in liorni-o ar.d .Suniatr;i, from the latt:r of which islands 
c lines the species Pitta cicgaus. Few bird.^ can vie with the Pittas in 
brightlv-contrasted colour;ilion. Deep velvety black, pure white, and intensely 
vivid scarlet, turquoise-b'ue. and beryl-green — mostly occupying a consider- 
able extent of surface — are found in a great many of the species, — to say 
nothing of other comjiosite or intermediate hues : and, though in some a 
modification of these tints i^ oliservable, there is scarcely a trace of any 
blending of shade, each [j.atch of colour standing out distinctly. This is, 
]ierh;ips, the more remarkalile as the feathers have hardly any lustre to 
heighten the effect produced. ;md in some species the brightest colours are 
exliibited by the lower parts of the body. Pittas vary in .size from that of a 
