BRACHYURTIS ANGOLENSIS.
ANGOLA « »
P itta Angolensis. Gray, Gen. o f Birds, -vol. -i.
P itta Angolensis. Hartl. Syst. Omith. West. Af i , '(1857,) p. 74, No. 223.
P itta Angolensis. Vieil. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. Ency. Metlio., vol. iv., p. 356, and p. 685.
P itta Angolensis. O. Des Murs. Iconog. Ornitli. pi. 46.
P itta P u lih . Fraser, Proc. Zool. Societ., (1842,) p. 190, (av. jun.)
P itta P u lih . Th. Allen, Exp. Niger, vol. ii., p. 495.
P itta P ulih. Mull. and. Schleg. Verhand. Natuur. Geschied. Ned. Ind.
Brachyurus Angolensis. Bon. Consp. av., (1850,) vol. i., p. 255, sp. 13.
Brachyurus Angolensis. Bon. Consp. Voluc. Anisodact., (1854,) p. 7, No. 186.
Viridis: capite nigro, vitta superciliari rufo-brunnea ; gula roseo-tmeta: tectricibus alarum minoribus,
uropygioque cyaneis: primariis nigris albo-punctatis: pectore ochraceo-fulvo; abdomine crissoque latis-
sime coccineis: cauda nigra apice caerulante: rostro nigro, pedibus latissime rubris.
H abitat.—Sierra Leone, west coast o f Africa.
A dult.—Head, black, with a reddish brown stripe over the e y e ; back and wings, green; smaller wing
coverts and uropygium, light blue; primaries, black, their tips, greyish, and with a white spot in the
centre o f the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth; upper part o f breast, a dark yellowish brown; throat, rose
color; abdomen and under tail coverts, light scarlet; tail, black, tipped with blue; bill, b la ck ; feet and
tarsi, o f a light red.
Africa, the native country of the Angola Pitta, has given to us as yet, but one species
of this family, and it was first made known, to ornithologists by Dr. Hartlaub, who
described it in his Ornithology of West Africa, in 1857. The Brachyurus Angolensis
bears but little resemblance to any of the other species of this genus, the Bengal Pitta
being the nearest to it in point of markings. There are not many examples of it
known, and it seems to possess in common with its relatives a desire for solitary spots,
and to dwell alone.
In its habits and economy, it resembles in a great degree the rest of the Pittae,