PITTA FORSTENI. 
Forsten’s Pitta. 
Pitta melanocephala, Mull. & Schl. Verh. Natuurl. Geschied., Zool., Pitta, p. 19 (1844, ex Forsten, MSS., nec 
Wagler). — Westerm. Bijdr. Dierk. Amsterd. (folio), i. part vi. (1854), p. 46, pi. 2. — Schlegel, Mus. 
Pays-Bas, Pitta, p.4 (1863). — Id. Vog. Nederl. Indie, Pitta, pp. 5, 30, pi. ii. fig. 1 (1863). — Id. Mus. 
Pays-Bas, Pitta, Revue, p. 9 (1874). 
Br achy ur us forsteni, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 256 (1850). — Elliot, Ibis, 1870, p. 419. 
Melanopitta forsteni, Bp. Consp. Volucr. Anis. 1854, p. 7, no. 195. — Walden, Trans. Zool. Soc. viii. p. 62 (1872). 
Brachjurus ( Melanopitta ) forsteni, Elliot, Monogr. Pittidse, pi. xxiv. (1863). 
Pitta forsteni, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 295, no. 4363 (1869). 
The genus Pitta has been divided by some ornithologists into various subgenera, founded for the most part 
on the prevailing style of coloration ; and so strongly characterized are these differences of coloration, that 
I am inclined to admit them as generic characters of no small value. To take, for instance, the section to 
which Forsten’s Pitta belongs, and to which the subgeneric title Melanopitta has been given, how 
unmistakable a character is the black head ! while at the same time it is accompanied by a green plumage 
strongly varied by a red vent and under tail-coverts and a lustrous green shoulder-patch. As a rule, too, 
the black-headed Pittas are remarkable for their white quills, which must form a very conspicuous feature 
when the birds are alive ; and many of the species depend upon the amount of white on the wing-feathers for 
their separation one from the other. It may be taken, therefore, as a character of the greatest importance 
that Forsten’s Pitta has the quills entirely black ; and it is on this account nearest allied to P. nonce -guinece, 
which has only a concealed white spot on the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills. The last-named bird, moreover, 
differs in having a blue shade bordering the black ventral patch, the absence of which in P. forsteni is 
compensated for by a broad band of metallic greenish blue across the upper tail-coverts. This band is 
found in most of the black-headed Pittas ; but in P. nonce-guinece it is scarcely distinguishable, being 
represented only by a slight metallic green tip to a few of the upper tail-coverts. 
As far as we know at present, Forsten’s Pitta is found only in the island of Celebes, and seems, indeed, to 
be confined to the northern parts of that island. It was found by Dr. Forsten at Kema and at Tondano. 
I have specimens in my collection from Menado, collected by Dr. Meyer; and the following description is 
taken from one of these. 
Adult . General colour above bright grass-green with somewhat of a metallic lustre ; lesser and median 
wing-coverts bright metallic greenish cobalt, forming a shoulder-patch; greater series green; primary- 
coverts and quills black, the secondaries black, externally green, like the back, the innermost entirely green ; 
most of the upper tail-coverts metallic greenish cobalt, forming a transverse band ; longer upper tail-coverts 
and tail-feathers dull green ; head and hind neck, sides of face and ear-coverts, cheeks and throat black ; 
rest of under surface, from the lower throat downwards, bright green, with the lower abdomen, vent, and 
under tail-coverts bright scarlet, bordered above with an abdominal patch of black, which descends slightly 
on each side of the scarlet patch, the lower feathers being black broadly tipped with scarlet ; thighs brown ; 
under wing-coverts and quill-lining black. 
Total length 7i inches, culmen I, wing 4f, tail If, tarsus H. 
Since the above meagre description of a fine bird was in press, I have received a few additional remarks 
from Dr. Meyer, to whom I wrote a few days since, and who says of Pitta forsteni : — 
“ This species only occurs on the island of Celebes, and is represented in Borneo by P. mulleri, on Sangi 
Island by P.sanghirana, on Mindanao by P. steerii, and on other islands of the Philippine group (as well as 
on Mindanao) by P. sordida. 
“ All Pittas may be said to be rare birds everywhere, and are only met with singly or a pair at a time. 
I met with but one Pitta that was plentiful, viz. P. rosenbergi, on the island of Mysore, in the north of 
Geelvink Bay. Besides, the black-headed Pittas are still rarer than the red-bellied Pittas ; and so it is also 
on the island of Celebes with P. forsteni in relation to P. celebensis. In the southern parts of Celebes 
I did not procure a single specimen of P. forsteni, as far as I remember, and also am not aware that 
