KUCICHLA ELLIOTI.
Elliot’s Pitta.

Pitta elliott, eae Nouvelles Archives du Muséum, vol. x. Bulletin, p. 101, pl. ii. (1874).—Gould, Birds of
Asia, part 31 (1879). |

 

lu present species is represented by specimens of both sexes in the Paris Museum; and no other collection
can at present boast of the possession of this beautiful and unique bird. Its home appears to be the
interior of Cochin China, a country concerning the ornithology of which scarcely any thing has yet been
written, but one which, if we may judge from the little we do know, would yield a rich increase to our
knowledge of Asiatic zoology. Situated as it is, there can be no doubt that Cochin China must receive a
considerable influx of the winter migrants from China, while its indigenous avifauna, if we may make a
deduction from the few species recorded, must consist of a mixture of Indian, Chinese, and even Malayan
forms. With regard to the latter we may remark that the present species alone is sufficient to establish a
Malayan element as existing in Cochin China ;. for Elliot’s Pitta is not allied to any of the known Chinese
members of the genus, but belongs to that section, with longish tails and a generally blue coloration, for
which the term Lucichla has been proposed as a distinct generic title.

As might be expected in the case of a bird so recently described, nothing is known of its habits ; and I
therefore content myself with translating the description given by Dr. Oustalet.

“Feathers of the head, which are elongated behind so as to form a sort of crest, emerald-blue, more
glistening on the forehead and eyebrow than on the crown. A black band, starting from the nostrils, passes
on each side below the eye, and ends abruptly near the nape. The back is ultramarine blue, shaded with
green and with br ownish, the feathers of this part of the body being brown at the base, blue in the middle,
and edged with green, the upper tail-coverts presenting the same tints. The quills are rather dark purplish
brown; and the secondaries have their outer webs of an ashy brownish colour. The tail-feathers are
intense ultramarine blue, at least on the external webs, the inner webs being more or less shaded with
green. The throat is very clear blue passing into whitish, the breast of an ashy-green colour. A band of
very dark bluish from the lower breast ends between the legs ; the flanks and region of the vent are
ornamented with black transverse bands, rather numerous, which are clearly defined on a yellow ground ;
the under tail-coverts are black at the base, and pass into green or ultramarine blue at their tips. The
beak is dark reddish brown; and the tarsus and toes are rather reddish, but are doubtless of a darker
colour in the living bird.”
cimen of this species myself, but am indebted to Professor Milne-Edwards for a

I have not seen a spe df for
e Museum of the Jardin des Plantes. The painting

painting of the birds taken from the specimens in th

was executed by the well-known artist M. Huet (to whom also my thanks are due), and upon it are

founded the figures in the Plate representing the male and female, of the size of life.