RAINBOW PITTA. 
brown ; eyes brown ; feet and tarsus brown. Total length 197 mm. ; culmen 23, 
wing 108, tail 40, tarsus 40. Figured. Collected on Melville Island, Northern 
Territory, on the 28th of May, 1912. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Nest. Rather like that of Pitta versicolor, built in the mangroves and placed about six 
feet from the ground. Bulky ; about 1.8 inches through. 
Eggs. Clutch, four. Cream-white, with blackish-brown spots sparsely distributed over 
the surface, with dull purplish spots beneath the surface, 25-26 mm. by 21. 
Breeding-season. January and February (November ?). 
Gould’s notes on this beautiful bird read : “ The Rainbow Pitta inhabits 
the Cobourg Peninsula and will doubtless, hereafter, be found to range over a 
great portion of the northern part of the country. No further account of this 
fine bird has been received than that it frequents the thick c cane beds ’ near 
the coast, through which it runs with great facility and that the boldness and 
richness of its markings render it a most attractive object in the bush.” 
Little has since been written, the most complete account being 
McLennan’s notes recorded by H. L. White as follows : “ King River. A 
couple of birds heard calling in scrub at small sandstone range, shot one: A 
single bird seen in a scrubby ravine sandstone range : A couple heard calling 
and four old nests examined in scrub at sandstone ranges. They were either 
seen or heard on every subsequent visit and found building. Heard calling 
in the patches of scrub.” No description of note is given. 
McLennan told me that he saw a specimen shot by George Whiteley, 
Peak Point, Telegraph Station, Cape York, but A. Dodd on November 13th, 
1918, told me that he gave a specimen which he had shot in the Northern 
Territory to Whiteley. I record this as hereafter trouble may arise regarding 
this bird. 
I have separated two subspecies, but at present owing to the variation 
seen in the family I am inclined to minimise the observed differences until 
better series are examined. 
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