688 
PITTA COEONATA. 
Butler & Hume, ibid. 1875, p. 470; Fairbank, ibid. 1876, p. 257; Ball, ibid. 1877, 
p. 416. 
Madras Jay, Ray ; Bengal Qmil, Albin ; Short-tailed Bye, Edwards, Birds, pi. 324 ; Ant- 
Thrush, Painted Thrush of Europeans ; The Indian Ground-Thrush, Yellow-hreasted 
Ground-Thrush of Indian writers. Uourang, lit. “ Nine-coloured bird,” Hind. ; 
Shumcha, Beng. ; Pona inki, Telugu ; Tota-collan, lit. “ Garden Thief,” Tamil, apud 
Layard ; Ara Mani Icuruvi, Coolies on coffee-estates (lit. “ Six o’clock bird ”). 
Avitchia, Sinhalese (from its cry) ; Ayittd, N.W. Province. 
Adult male and female. Length 6'5 to 7'0 inches ; wing 4'1 to 4'2 ; tail I'o to 1’7 ; tarsus 1'35 to 1'45 ; middle toe 
and claw I’l; hind toe and claw 0’7 ; bill to gape 1’05 to I'l. 
Iris brown, variable in depth ; bill orange-reddish along the ridge and on basal half of lower mandible, vi ith the sides 
of both mandibles towards the tip dusky brown ; legs and feet flesh-colour or pale reddish grey ; toes in some 
specimens brownish at the joints. 
Lores, cheeks, hind neck, back of head, and a broad stripe running forward to the forehead and skirting the nostril, 
primaries, secondaries, the inner w'ebs of tertials, primary and under wing-coverts, under surface of wings and 
tail black ; chin, throat, a patch below the eye, and a superciliary stripe white, the latter is surmounted by a 
broad band of yellowish brown commencing at the nostril and running back with it to the back of the neck, wLere 
they both overlie the black feathers ; a white band across the quills commencing on the inner web of 1st primary 
and ending on the outer web of the 7th ; tips of the primaries smoky grey, those of the secondaries white, the 
outer portion of the latter feathers and the terminal parts of the greater wing-coverts greenish blue ; median wing- 
coverts, outer webs and tips of tertials, scapulars, and back leaf-green ; the back more or less washed with browmish 
on its upper part ; least wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts brilliant turquoise-blue ; tips of tail-feathers greenish 
blue ; beneath from the throat fawn-colour, the flanks somewhat dusky ; lower part of belly, vent, and under 
tail-coverts scarlet. 
Ohs. Some females appear to have the scarlet less bright than the males, and the back shaded with brown. Variations, 
however, occur in the plumage of both sexes, probably dependent on age, and consist in the greater or less breadth 
of the white wing-bar, in the brilliancy of the upper tail-coverts, and in the amount of white at the tips of the 
secondaries. Some examples, which appear to be immature, have the white feathers at the side of the throat 
tipped with brownish. 
Indian specimens 1 have examined are similar in size and colouring to those which visit Ceylon. An example, 
however, from Nepal measures 4‘5 inches in the wing, being somewhat larger than our birds. There are some 
allied species in the green-backed, fulvous-breasted group to which our bird belongs, and among them P. areas, 
Swiuh., from Formosa, is, according to Elliot, the nearest to P. coronata. It is distinguished from this latter by 
having the crown dull reddish brown and the under wiug-co\erts jet-black, “ without any ti’aco of the white 
feathers which form so conspicuous a mark in its ally”: wdng 5'0 inches. Pitta moluccensis, Muller, from the 
countries on the east of the Bay of Bengal, likewise belongs to this group ; but is a handsomer bird, having the 
beautiful lazuline-blue wing and upper tail-covert patches larger, the brown of the head is darker, and the black 
of the face runs past the gape upon the chin : wing 4’7 to 4'8 inches. Pitta megarliyncha, Schlegel, is allied to 
the last, and inhabits likewise the province of Teuasserim. I have not had the opportunity of examining 
specimens ; but EUiot remarks that, in addition to having a black bill, “ the reddish brown of the bead extends to 
the nape without being broken by a black bar.” 
Another group of Pittas is characterized by their green under surface, and another (Melano^itta) by having portions 
of the plumage, especially the head and throat, black, to which latter Mr. Hume’s beautiful new species, P. gurneyi, 
from Tenasseriin, appears to belong. 
This singular group of birds, characterized by a more beautiful plumage than is to be found in any series of Passerine 
birds, save perhaps the Sun-birds, is essentially a Malajo-Asian family. Mr. Elliot, in his s 3 mopsis of the 
family (Ibis, 1870, p. 108), gives a list of 32 species as then known to or recognized by him. Subsequently 
others have been described, and some which he combined together under one title are now found to be 
diiitinet from one another. The following table will show what a large proportion of species is found in 
the Malay archipelago: — 
