242 



THE HACKLED GROUND PIGEON. 



ceous type, Imving stout tarsi and short toes; the long wings wlien 

 closed extend nhnost to the tip of the rounded tail, M'hich is compcsed 

 of twelve i)road feathers. The plumage is richly coloiu'ed, and so pro- 

 longed around the throat as to form a complete mane or collar. Tiie 

 jiead, throat, entir'^ under side, and wings are blackish green, the 

 feathers on the lower |)art of the body edged with blue; the longest of 

 the collar feathers, back, rump, and feathers of wing covers are of grass- 

 green, with a metallic lustre, the shorter collar-feathers being of a 

 glossy, golden hue, and those of the tail a pure wiiite. The eye is 

 light reddish brown, the beak blackish, and the foot reddish purple. 

 The length is fourteen inches, the breadth across the wings twenty-nine 



HACKLED OBOliND PIGLON. 



inches; th'^ w-ing measures nine inches and a half, and the tail two 

 inches and two-thirds. Tiiis beautiful bird, according to Jerdon, is met 

 Avith on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the IMerqui Archijielago, 

 the Philippines and INFalaya generally, usually preferring to settle upon 

 the small unoccui)ied islands. Though, like its congeners, it possesses 

 considerable powers of flight, it seeks the grain and insects that afford 

 it the means of sustenance almost exclusively on the ground, upou 

 which it passes the entire day, only leaving its surface to seek a perch 

 whereon to sleep. 



