PITTA MAXIMA, Mull. t Schi. 
Great Pitta. 
Pitta maxima. Mull. & Schl. Verb. Nat. Gesch. Ned. Ind. Zool. p. 14. — Westerm. Bijdr. Dierk. p. 45, Pitta , 
pi. 1. — Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 213. — W allace. Ibis, 1859, p. 112, 1860, p. 197. — Schl. Yog. Nederl. Ind. 
Pitta, p. 30. — Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 296. 
Brachyurus maximus, Bp. Consp, i. p. 253. — Elliot, Monogr. Pittidae, pi. 12. 
Gigantipitta maxima, Bp. Consp. Yol, Anisod. p. 7. 
Pitta gigas , Wallace, Malay Arch. ii. p. 3. 
There are several species of Ant-Thrushes which are nearly, if not quite, equal to the present bird in size ; 
so that the specific name of maxima would be by no means justified, if naturalists were content to class all 
these birds under the heading of genus Pitta. By many writers, however, the large Ant-Thrushes of Malaisia 
and the eastern Himalayas are generically separated as Hydrornis ; 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 Pitlce, of course in the short-tailed group. Whether the latter 
section should be regarded as constituting a separate genus is quite another matter ; I consider this 
much more feasible. Throughout the present work, however, I have retained these particoloured Ant- 
Thrushes under the genus Pitta in preference to Brachyurus, and therefore adhere to it in the present 
instance. 
The habitat of this beautiful bird is the Moluccan island of Gilolo. Very little has been recorded of its 
habits. Mr. Wallace, 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 gigas, 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. Wallace’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 bird is necessary, as it stands alone among the Pittidee, and has no near allies. 
The Plate gives a correct idea of the plumage; and the principal figure is full-sized. 
