The rainbow pitta (Pitta iris) is a small passerine bird in the pitta
family, Pittidae, endemic to northern Australia. The species is most
closely related to the superb pitta of Manus Island. A colourful bird,
it has a velvet black head with chestnut stripes above the eyes, olive
green upper parts, black underparts, a bright red belly and an olive
green tail. The rainbow pitta lives in the monsoon forests, as well as
some drier eucalypt forests. As with other pittas, it is a secretive and
shy bird. The diet consists mainly of insects, arthropods and small
vertebrates. Pairs defend territories and breed during the rainy season,
as this time of year provides the most food for nestlings. The female
lays three to four eggs with blotches inside its large domed nest. Both
parents defend the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. The
species is common within its range, and is not threatened.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_pitta>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
The Orange River Convention was signed in Bloemfontein, with
Britain agreeing to recognise the independence of the Orange Free State
in present-day South Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Free_State>
1945:
Second World War: An Allied bombing run on Pforzheim, Germany,
killed approximately 31 percent of its population and destroyed about
83 percent of its buildings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Pforzheim_in_World_War_II>
2007:
A Virgin express train derailed (accident scene pictured) near
Grayrigg in North West England, killing one person and seriously
injuring thirty others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayrigg_derailment>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
navel-gazing:
1. Contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.
2. (derogatory) Excessive focus on oneself; self-indulgent
introspection.
3. (sometimes derogatory) (Disproportionate) concentration on a single
issue.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/navel-gazing>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our questions and answers are in part determined by the
historical tradition in which we find ourselves. We apprehend truth from
our own source within the historical tradition. The content of our
truth depends upon our appropriating the historical foundation. Our own
power of generation lies in the rebirth of what has been handed down to
us. If we do not wish to slip back, nothing must be forgotten; but if
philosophising is to be genuine our thoughts must arise from our own
source. Hence all appropriation of tradition proceeds from the
intentness of our own life. The more determinedly I exist, as myself,
within the conditions of the time, the more clearly I shall hear the
language of the past, the nearer I shall feel the glow of its life.
--Karl Jaspers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Jaspers>
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