variation in location within a nesting season. The nest can be placed in the fork of a tree, at the top of palms, on horizontal branches, in tangles of vines or against the buttress roots of a tree. A nest takes about a week to build, and is built by both parents. It starts as a platform of twigs, over which is built a dome. The enclosed nest is then lined with bark and leaves before a final lining of finer fibres, fern fronds and rootlets. One unusual feature of rainbow pitta nests, shared only with the noisy pitta in this family, is the addition of wallaby dung pellets to the entrance of the nest. In a study of 64 nests in the Northern Territory, 34% were decorated in this way. The function of the dung is uncertain; it has been suggested that the scent disguises the smell of eggs, nestlings or incubating adults from nest predators, but researchers found that decorated nests were preyed upon as frequently as clean nests. Entrances may also be decorated with other objects such as dingo hair or feathers; the function of this is also unknown but may be to communicate with others of the same species. The nests of pittas may be domed to protect them from nest predators, but evidence of this is inconclusive. Nests are preyed upon by rodents and snakes, and nests are raided more often in monsoon forests than in eucalypt forests. Nesting failure is high for this species; 12% of nests are preyed upon in eucalypt forests and 60% of nests in monsoon forests. An average clutch of rainbow pitta eggs contains four eggs, but some have three or five. The eggs are rounded and white with sepia spots and blotches and underlying grey markings. They measure on average. Both parents incubate the eggs for 14 days. Incubation stints last for an average of 87 minutes and the pair incubate their eggs for 90% of the daylight hours. The chicks are born naked, with black skin and yellow claws. Their eyes open after four days, and the down, when it comes, is grey. Both parents feed the chicks, with an average time between feeds of just 7.5 minutes. Earthworms are broken up before being fed to smaller nestlings. Chicks fledge after 14 days, before they are fully grown. They continue to be fed for between 15 and 20