Temminck received his specimen from Mr. Leadbeater, and it was the only species
of this genus known to belong to New Holland at that time.
Gould, in the fourth volume of the Birds of Australia, says that “ it dwells in those
almost impenetrable brushes of the eastern coast of Australia, and is thereby abundant
in all such localities between the river Macquarrie and Moreton Bay.”
The plate represents an adult and young bird, and the reader will notice that the
latter bears the characteristic plumage of its parent, which is assumed from the time of
leaving the nest; a peculiarity but very rarely met with in ornithology.
The food of the Noisy Pitta consists principally of insects, and perhaps berries,
which it procures upon the ground; its manner of advancing being a succession
of hops.
In the plumage of the sexes, I can discover but little difference.
