COLUMB^. 41 



September. For a period of ten years I kept a register of its 

 periodical arrival, and noted its regular occurrence between the 5tli 

 and 10th of October 



'^ During its sojourn witli us it subsists almost exclusively on 

 caterpillars^ and is, therefore_, entitled to a place among tbe really 

 useful species. 



'^ The cry is a remarkable one, as the bird appears to be endowed 

 with a peculiar kind of ventriloquism. It consists of eight or ten 

 long silvery notes quickly repeated. The first of these appears to 

 come from a considerable distance ; each successive one brings the 

 voice nearer^ till it issues from the spot where the performer is 

 actually perched, perhajjs only a few yards off. It generally winds 

 up with a confused strain of joyous notes, accompanied by a stretching 

 and quivering of the wings^ expressive^ it would seem, of the highest 

 ecstasy. The cry of the young birds is easily distinguished, being 

 very weak and plaintive. 



" Like the long-tailed Cuckoo already described^ this species is 

 parasitic in its breeding-habits, and intrusts to a stranger both the 

 hatching and the rearing of its young." — Buller. 



OEDER IV. COLUMBiE '. PIGEONS. 



Bill, short, straight, curved at tlic tip ; the base soft and tumid. 



COLUMBID^. 



Characters same as the Order. 



Caepophaga . Selhy. 



Bill, moderate ; wings, pointed, third and fourth quills nearly equal and longest ; tail, 

 lengthened ; tarsi, short, clothed with down below the knee ; hind toe large. 

 Polynesia, Indian Archipelago, China. 



52. Carpophaga novse-sealandise. Gml. 



Wood -PIGEON. Kuktj. Kereett. 



(Plate XVIII.) 



Above, coppery- purple ; head, neck, and breast, coppery-green ; abdomen, white ; tail, 

 greenish-black ; feet, pink. 



Albino varieties occur sometimes. 



L., 18 ; W., 10 ; B., 1-25 ; T., 1-25. 



Hab. — Both Islands and the Chatham Islands. 



" The New-Zealand Pigeon is strictly arboreal_, and appears^ as a 

 rule, to prefer the densest foliage. When not engaged in filling its 



