342 
Birds of Celebes: Pittidae. 
Measurements. Adults — wing 103—109 mm; tail 41 ; tarsus 38 c.; bill from nostr. 14.5—16; 
immature — wing 101; tarsus 36; bill fr. nostr. 12.5. 
Skeleton. * 
Length of cranium fr. sin. nasofr. 
25.9 
mm 
Length of fibula 
23.3 
mm 
Greatest breadth of cranium . 
18.5 
» 
Length of tarso-metatarsus 
38.0 
» 
Length of humerus .... 
30.2 
Length of sternum .... 
33.5 
» 
Length of ulna ...... 
35.6 
» 
Greatest breadth of sternum . 
20.0 
Length of radius 
32.8 
Height of crista sterni . . . 
11.0 
» 
Length of manus 
31.0 
» 
Length of pelvis 
33.0 
» 
Length of femur 
28.5 
> 
Greatest breadth of pelvis . . 
20.5 
» 
Length of tibia ...... 
49.0 
» 
Distribution. Celebes — Minahassa (Forsten 1, Wallace 5, 20, etc.); Bolang-Mongondo 
(P. &F. Sarasin); Gorontalo (Eosenb. U) \ Mantebageld. (Nat. Coll.); Togian Islands 
(Meyer h 3)\ Tonkean, E. Celebes (Nat. Coll.); Tawaya, W. Celebes (Doherty P7); 
Maros, S. Celebes (Wallace 10^% Segeri, S. Celebes (Meyer h 3). 
The Eed Pitta of Celebes seems to be a somewhat rare bird in the south 
of the island. Writing on its habits Meyer has remarked (h 3)\ “Although not 
so difficult to procure as the Black-headed, it is nevertheless a bird which it 
is not easy to get a shot at, being very quiet in the day-time and seldom 
calling except in the morning and evening its ‘tuullu tschui’. In the evening 
the cry ‘oppo’ (origin of the native name) is heard, with which the male and 
female call one another, the notes sounding melancholy and protracted. ‘Oppo’ 
means, in the language of the country, ‘grandfather’; and the natives tell the 
tale, that once a child, which had gone with its grandfather into the forest, 
got astray and was transformed into a bird, which now always calls for its 
grandfather”. 
Pitta celehensis only runs on the ground, and is very shy and watchful; 
it glides noiselessly through the leaves; and as its back is green it can only 
with difficulty be detected. To approach it one must creep through the densest 
brushes; and without imitating the call of the bird its pursuit would be in vain. 
But if the hunter imitates the cry he can draw the bird almost to the muzzle 
of his gun. During the day-time they go singly, in the evening in pairs together. 
The nest is to be found in brushes near small pools. 
The bird digs a hole in the slope of the river-bank, and builds its nest 
therein of wood and leaves, lined with cotton or hairy plant-materials (for in- 
stance, from Arenga saccharifera Lab.). It lays two eggs. . . . This Pitta feeds 
on beetles, small caterpillars, etc.” 
Dr. Platen and v. Eosenberg likewise mention the quiet, concealed habits 
of this bird. The latter describes its nest, or that of P.foi'steni, as being always 
placed upon the ground and formed of leaves and moss, lined with fine grass- 
stalks. 
Pitta celehensis is one of a group in which Mr. Whitehead has recently 
(23) enumerated 12 species, and P. inspeculata M. & Mg. should now be added; 
“a very compact group, all the species having brown or black-and-brown 
