such situations; of berries and seeds it seldom if ever partakes, and the sand occasionally
met with in their stomachs is probably taken unintentionally. Their tongue and
intestines resemble those of the thrushes proper, with only a considerable increase of
the intestinal canal, which is sometimes thirty inches long. It flies so badly, and is so
stupid, that I have seen it taken by a single man.”
The last sentence is not very flattering to our Nepaul Pitta, but it is probable that,
at that time, the privacy of its haunts was not often intruded upon, and consequently
it had not learned the necessity of using its powers to escape from man, as from its
worst enemy.
It is-a rare bird, there being but few examples in the different ornithological
collections of the old and new worlds: its retiring habits, and the absence of the
brilliant plumage possessed by its relatives, render it difficult to be observed.
Mr. Hodgson, in his description of this species, speaks of “ large buff drops at the
end of each plume of the wing coverts.” This characteristic I have never seen in any
of the specimens which have come under my observation, and should suppose it would
be most likely to be found in an immature bird.
The plate represents an adult male. The plant in the background is the
Selaginella Stomefei-a, and the small flower is the Sonerilla Margaritacea.