A Manual of Philippine Birds

by Richard C. McGregor

Suborder MESOMYODI.

Characters the same as those given in the key to Suborders.

Family PITTIDÆ.

Rectrices twelve; tarsus booted, or with obsolete, diagonal divisions.

Genus PITTA Vieillot, 1816.

Bill stout and compressed; culmen curved; gonys slightly curved; nostrils large and oval, entirely exposed; rictal and frontal bristles very short; wings short and curved to the body; first primary nearly as long as second, fourth longest; secondaries shorter than the primaries by the length of hind toe without claw; tail short, soft, and square, scarcely longer than its under coverts; tarsus and toes well developed, the former longer than tail and the latter extending entirely beyond the tip of tail. Colors various combinations of black, white, brown, bright scarlet, green, and blue.

Species.

• a¹. Entire abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts bright red.
  • b¹. Smaller; tarsus, less than 38 mm.; secondaries and secondary-coverts dark blue.
    • c¹. Back entirely green, including the scapulars; chest green with a slight wash of blue on the central portion. erythrogastra (p. [414])
    • c². Back, including the scapulars, entirely cobalt; chest bright blue, only the sides greenish. propinqua (p. [416])
  • b². Larger; tarsus, more than 45 mm.; secondaries and secondary-coverts olive-green. kochi (p. [417])
• a². Only the under tail-coverts, crissum, and middle of abdomen red.
  • b¹. Throat and chin entirely black.
    • c¹. Smaller. atricapilla (p. [418]); rothschildi (p. [420])
    • c². Larger. mulleri (p. [419])
  • b². Throat mostly white.
    • c¹. Breast and sides light blue. steeri (p. [420])
    • c². Breast and sides fawn. moluccensis (p. [421])

379. PITTA ERYTHROGASTRA Temminck.

RED-BREASTED PITTA.[47]