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.