The PULIH (Pitta Angolensis) one of the most beautiful birds of Western Africa, is more powerfully constructed, and has shorter feet than the last-mentioned species, but is similarly coloured. The plumage on the upper part of the body is green, with a slight metallic lustre; the top of the head, a broad cheek-stripe, the tail, lower wing-covers, and quills are black, the latter, from the third to the sixth, enlivened by a white spot; the tips of the tail-feathers and those upon the rump are greenish blue, the throat and a streak over the eyes reddish white; the upper breast is ochre-yellow, the lower part of the body light scarlet, the beak reddish black, and the foot flesh-pink. The length of the body is six inches and a quarter, that of the wing four, and the tail one inch and two-thirds. The Pulih inhabits a large portion of Western Africa.
THE NOISY PITTA.
The NOISY PITTA (Pitta strepitans) the third species we have selected for description, is of a beautiful olive-green on the back and wings; the shoulders and wing-covers are of the colour of verdigris; the throat, region of the ears, and nape, black; the under side is reddish yellow, with a black and scarlet patch on the belly and lower tail-covers, the rest of the tail and exterior quills are black, the fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries being ornamented with a white spot upon the base. The eye is brown, the beak dark brown, and the foot flesh-pink. The body is seven inches and a half long. This beautiful bird is met with on the eastern coast of Australia, between Macquarie and Moreton Bays.
The Pittas almost exclusively inhabit India and the neighbouring islands, Western Africa, and Australia, and are never met with in the Western Hemisphere. Of the thirty-three species enumerated by Wallace, six belong to Africa, two to Australia, and no less than twenty-five to the Malay Islands. Almost all frequent the inmost recesses of vast forests, whilst a few, on the contrary, occupy such rocky districts as are covered with brushwood. Jerdon is of opinion that their very inferior powers of flight place them almost at the mercy of the heavy winds that occur at certain seasons, and account for their being occasionally compelled to steer their course for localities to which they would not voluntarily resort. The first Nurang seen by him had taken shelter from a storm within the hospital at Madras.
All the various species respecting whose breeding we have any particulars, build close to the ground, and form their nests carelessly of grass, stalks, twigs, or roots, lined with hair, moss, or delicate leaves. The eggs vary considerably in appearance; those found by Bernstein were oval, and had a glossy white shell, whilst other authorities tell us that those laid by some species are bright yellow, irregularly marked with brown and deep purplish grey, while others again are greenish white, spotted with red and other dark tints. It has not yet been ascertained whether the male assists in the labour of incubation, but both parents co-operate with the utmost courage and devotion in tending and protecting their young family. Strange informs us that the Australian species may be allured to come down from the trees, even almost to the mouth of the gun, by a careful imitation of their call-note, and Hodgson speaks in similar terms of those inhabiting Nepaul. Bernstein succeeded in rearing a pair of Pittas that he had taken from the nest upon insect diet, and also rendered them extremely tame.
The ANT THRUSHES (Myiotheræ) constitute a family of birds principally inhabiting South America. Some of them are very similar in appearance to the Wood Thrush, whilst others resemble the Shrikes. The formation of the beak varies considerably, being sometimes much arched, sometimes awl-shaped, and of very different size and strength. The tail is of various lengths, straight or rounded at its extremity, the wing is invariably short and rounded, the tarsus is high and powerful, while the toes are long, thin, and armed with long, slender, and occasionally spur-shaped claws. The plumage of all is soft and much variegated.
The Ant Thrushes inhabit forests or wooded tracts that abound upon the vast prairies of South America, and appear entirely to avoid mountain regions. Some few species venture near the inhabited districts; but, for the most part, they resort to the densest thickets or closest copses, and are most numerous in the hottest, quietest, and moistest localities, where they generally live upon the ground, and trust, even when alarmed, more to the swiftness of their feet than to the use of their wings. Other species again, frequent the bushes, and hop from branch to branch in search of food. The strength of foot displayed by the members of this family fully equals that of any other race of birds; they leap up and down with the utmost agility, and when endeavouring to elude pursuit, spring over the ground with a rapidity that renders it difficult even for a dog to overtake them. It is only during the period of incubation that the Ant Thrushes are content to take up their abode in any one particular spot; at other seasons they wander about from place to place, without, however, undertaking any regular migrations. We are almost unacquainted with the voices of these birds, but are told that great dissimilarity is observable in their notes, and that though some species are far noisier than the rest, none are distinguished for their powers of song. Insects constitute their principal food: these are obtained from the surface of the ground, sometimes by scratching upon it after the manner of hens. According to Kittlitz, they by no means despise vegetable diet. They greedily devour ants, and thus render inestimable service to mankind, by helping to destroy some of the vast swarms of those much-dreaded insects that occasionally sweep over the face of the country. "Everywhere in the neighbourhood of Para," Mr. Bates tells us, "the Saüba Ants are seen marching to and fro in broad columns, and carrying destruction among the cultivated trees and vegetables of the Brazilians. So large are the communities made by these tiny creatures, that the traveller often comes upon heaps of their dwellings of not less than forty yards in circumference, though not more than two feet high." We learn from Ménétrier that the Ant Thrushes breed in the spring-time of their native lands, and lay from two to three white eggs, marked with red; these are usually deposited with but slight preparations in a hole in the ground, or some similar situation.
THE FIRE EYE.