Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE FREE-TOED PERCHING BIRDS
THE ASITIES
(Family Philepittida)
Madagascar is the home of two curious little birds that have been variously referred, but which appear to be most closely related to the Pittas, from which they differ, among other features, in having the tarsus covered with rectangular plates disposed in regular series. The sexes are very different in coloration, and the males are further distinguished by having the skin around the eyes bare of feathers and surmounted by a green or bluish green caruncle. They do not resemble the Pittas very closely in outward appearance and are described as being more arboreal in their habits. In Philepitta jala, which is about six and a half inches long, the male in mature plumage is a velvety jet-black, both above and below, though when this same plumage is freshly moulted the extreme tips of most of the body feathers are bright greenish yellow, but these soon wear off, leaving the intense black, except for a spot at the bend of the wing which remains bright yellow; the female is olive-green with numerous pale yellow markings below. In the other species (P. schlegeli) the male is olive-green above, becoming blackish on the head and darker on wings and tail and bright yellow beneath, the female being olive above with light stripes on the head and yellowish below; the length is only about five inches.
The first-mentioned species, known as the Black-velvet Asity, is confined to the forest regions of eastern Madagascar, where, according to Shelley, it is met with generally in pairs, running along or climbing up the branches in search of buds and fruit on which it feeds. It is graceful and active in its movements and not at all shy. The flight is strong and not sustained for any great distance, and the males have a soft, Thrush-like song. The eggs are bluish white in color.