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BRACH YURUS (M e l a n o p it t a . B on;! FORSTEN!.
FORSTEN’S PITTA.
P itta Melanocephala. Mill and Schleg. Verhand. Nat. Gesch.- des. Neder. lud.
P itta Melanocephala. Forsten. Bijdra. tot. de Dierk. p. pi. 2.
P itta Forsteni. Bonp.
Brachyurus Forsteni. Bon. Consp. Av., (1850,) vol. i., p. 256, sp. 22.
Melanopitta Forsteni. Bon. Consp. Volucr. Anisodact., (1854,) p. 7, No. 195.
- T m d is : capite colloqnc nigris ; tectricibus alarum uropygioque eaeruleis : remigibus ex toto uigris ;
abdomine crissoque rubris. Rostro nigro, pedibus pallide brunneis.
H abitat.—Celebes.
Gcner.d color, green ; -head, neck, and primaries, b la ck ; lesser wing and upper tail coverts light blue
Abdomen and crissum, red. Bill, black; feet and tarsi, light brown.
Torsten's Pitta was first discovered by the gentleman whose name it bears, on
the island of Celebes. It is easily distinguishable from all the black-headed Pittas, by
having the primaries entirely black'; in the others, the primaries have more or less
white upon them Mr. Forsten called the species P. Melanocephala, but this name having
already become a synonym of B. atrieapillus, it could not stand, and Bonaparte
therefore changed it to the present appellation.
Nothing is known of the habits of this handsome bird, those ornithologists who
procured it in its native haunts having neglected to relate any thing concerning them.
My drawing is taken from one of a specimen in the British Museum, sent to
by my friend Dr. Sclater.
The figure is life-size.
me