LEUCOPITTA MAXIMA. 
Great Pitta. 
Pitta maxima, Miill. & Schl. Verb. Nat. Gesch. Ned. Ind. Zool., p. 14. — Westerm. Bijdr. Dierk., p. 45, Pitta, 
pi. 1. — Gray, Gen. B., i. p. 213. — M^allace, Ibis, 1859, p. 112, 1860, p. 197. — Sclil. Vog. Nederl. Ind. 
Pitta, p. 30.— Gray, Hand-1. B., i. p. 296. — Gould, Birds of New Guinea, part 2. 
Brachyiirus maximtis, Bp. Consp., i. p. 253. — Elliot, Monogr. Pittidee, pi. 12. 
Gigantipitta maxima, Bp. Consp. Vol. Anisod., p. 7. 
Pitta gigas, Wallace, Malay Arch., ii. p. 3, 
Brachyiirus (Leucopitta) maxima, Elliot, Ibis, 1870, p. 413. 
Thebe are several species of this form which are nearly, if not quite, equal to the ])resent bird in size ; 
so that the specific name of mawima would be by no means justified if naturalists were content to class all 
these birds under the heading of the genus Pitta. By many writers, however, the large Ant-Thrushes of 
Malasia and the eastern Himalayas are generically separated as Hydrorms ; and Mr. George Robert Gray 
was inclined to range the present bird under the same heading. In this I cannot agree ; I think that it 
should be kept along with the true Pittce, of course in the short-tailed group. I have, however, 
thought it more convenient, in the present Monograph, to class the species under different generic 
headings, as they fall so naturally into grouj)s which possess the same form and style of coloration. By 
many ornithologists I am aware that these characters will be considered only of subgenerie importance at 
the most ; but the adoption of generic titles for these various groups is, to my mind, of great convenience 
in a family like the Pittida-,. 
The habitat of this beautiful bird is the Moluccan island of Gilolo. Very little has beeti recorded of its 
habits. Mr. ^Vallace, in his ‘ Malay Archipelago,’ writes that during his stay in the above-mentioned island 
his boy Ali shot “ a pair of one of the most beautiful birds of the East — Pitta giga.^, a large Ground-Thrush, 
whose plumage of velvety black above is relieved by a breast of pure white, shoulders of azure blue, and 
belly of vivid crimson. It has very long and strong legs, and hops about with such activity, in the dense 
tangled forest bristling with rocks, as to make it very difficult to shoot.” From the above short note of 
Mr. M^allace’s we can imagine what a beautiful sight it must be to see this finely plumaged bird in its 
native forests ; and even in a tropical island like Gilolo, where brilliantly coloured birds abound, there can 
be few to compete with the subject of our present article. 
No description of the male bird is necessary, as it stands alone among the Pittidae and has no near 
allies. The Plate gives a correct idea of the plumage; and the jn’incipal figure is full-sized. 
The female is a rather smaller bird. The colouring of the bill in this Great Pitta is black, and the 
legs are blackish brown ; the tail is rounded at the tip, and there are no coloured bands across the base 
of the tail. 
