round the neck, and lines behind the eyes, but the crown o f the head and neck have only transverse
black lines on a ferruginous ground.
Y oung.— Head yellowish brown, with a dark brown stripe down the centre. Back and under parts sooty
brown; tertials the same, each feather bordered with yellow; primaries and secondaries blackish
brown, terminating in dark blue. Abdomen yellowish white. Bill, upper mandible terminating in
yellow, under mandible all yellow. Feet and tarsi flesh color. ‘
H abitat Sumatra.-—The Asiatic Society o f Bengal possess an example from the Himalaya which is supposed
to be the young o f this species.*
T h e P ittas, although one of the most beautiful as regards richness and variety of
plumage, are among the least known of the many families of birds. Inhabiting places,
and countries trod in many cases only by the adventurous foot of the explorer, and
being of quiet, unobtrusive habits, these beautiful denizens of the woods and plains have
escaped notice, (in some species until very lately,) even from the eager eyes of the enthusiastic
student of nature. Of the well-known species, examples are not often to be
met with, and then but seldom out of the large and magnificent ornithological collections
contained in different national museums.
Former writers, when treating of this group, seem to have little or nothing to relate
regarding their economy or habits, and confine themselves principally to scientific nomenclature;
and even later authors have as. yet thrown but little light Upon them.
Still no one can look upon these beautiful creatures with indifference, and although
what has now been gathered may be but little, yet I shall deem myself amply repaid
if any thing shall have been added to our knowledge of this interesting group.
The present species is one of the handsomest, and it gives me much pleasure to
be able (through the kindness of M. le Dr. Pucheran, who allowed the specimen to
be removed from the case in the museum of the Jardin des Plantes) -to give, with
the assistance of M. Oudart, so good a representation of the Caerulean Pitta in its native
haunts. Its habits are similar to those of the Thrushes, hopping about among the
bushes and over the ground in search of its food, which consists principally of insects.
Messrs. Miiller and Schlegel, in the Yerhand. Natuur. Geschied., (a work written in
the Dutch language, the sense of which I have endeavored to give as literally as possible
in the following translation,) speaking of this species, say :
u M. Temminck was the first to describe this bird, in his Planches Coloriées, and
there gave the figure of a very old individual. This species and the Pitta Strepitans
are the largest. In the month of June, 1834, in Sumatra, not far from the base of the
mountain Singalang, in a dark, retired valley, which was entirely covered with a thick
BRACHYURUS (GIGANTIPITTA) CAERULEUS.
undergrowth, we saw a young male. lie was sitting on the dead branch of a low tree,
and was not in the least shy ; the mellow reddish mouth, and the peculiar softness of
his feathers, showed that he had not yet attained his first moult.
11 The deep blue hue which adorns the older birds of this species was in this specimen
entirely wanting, with the exception of a slight indication on the tail. Those portions
which in the adults assume the blue Every, were with him of a dark yellowish
brown, still darker towards the wings; and the lower parts, which are of a deep yellow
color, were with this young bird dirty yellow, towards the breast mixed with yellowish
white and blackish brown. The same distribution of colors is observed among the
feathers of the head and shoulders; the yellow becomes much clearer towards the
sides of the head, with a rose-colored tint near the throat. The bill, which is black in
the adult, was in this one almost transparent, and of the color of horn. The black color
was entirely wanting, but the black fine behind the eye was clearly observable.”
I have been thus particular in giving the full description of the young, because they
are very rarely to be found in collections, and even then in some instances the species
is doubtful. The above is also valuable as having been taken on the spot, and given
by an authority which none can question.
The specimen was much younger than the one from which I took my description.
Mine is in the fine collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. I
hope to give a figure of the immature bird towards the close of the present work.
In the plate, the male bird has just leaped upon a decayed trunk of a tree, and is
taking a survey of the premises, while his mate, ceasing her pursuit after food,
curiously inspects his movements.
The figures are the size of life. The plant is the Passiflora Minima., from Java.