viii INTRODUCTION. 



Pigeons were published by Bonaparte in the " Coup d'CEil sur 

 l'Ordre des Pigeons " (Compt. Eend. Ac. Sc. Paris, xxxix, pp. 869- 

 880, 1072-1078, 1102-1112 (1854); xl. pp. 15-24, 96-102, 

 204-221 (1855); xliii. pp. 833-839, 942-949 (1856)). 



The Trustees of the British Museum published in 1856 the ' List 

 of the Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the British Museum, 

 Part IV. CoUmbce, pp. 73, by G. R. Gray.' Although in this 

 little volume only the species contained in the British Museum are 

 enumerated, it is most useful, enabling us to make many interesting 

 identifications. 



Bonaparte, in 1857, while in a very precarious state of health, 

 published the ' Iconographie des Pigeons,' a companion work to 

 those of Temminck and Prevost. It contains 59 plates, but was 

 unfortunately left unfinished. 



About the year 1862, Reichenbach published ' Die vollstandigste 

 Naturgeschichte der Tauben, Columbaria,' soon followed by a second 

 part, ' Neu entdeckte Taubenvogel.' The publication of the numerous 

 figures accompanying this work began as early as 1S47 (Synopsis 

 Avium, Columbarice), and was continued in the years 1848 (Colum- 

 barice), 1851 (Novitiae ad Synopsin Avium, Columbarice), and 1862 

 (Nachweisung, etc.) : these illustrations are mostly copies very in- 

 differently executed, and the text is but a poor compilation. 



G. R. Gray, in 1871, in the ' Hand-list,' gave a nominal list of 

 all the species then known, 378 in number. In 1873 Schlegel 

 prepared for the ' Museum des Pays-Bas ' the account of the " Aves 

 Columbse," pp. 1-180, contained in the Leyden Museum. They 

 numbered 2309 specimens, or 249 species *. 



After the elimination of duplicates, the Collection in the British 

 Museum numbers 7359 specimens belonging to 415 species. Of 

 these, 112 are represented by typical specimens, besides 47 which 

 are tvpes of species that have been identified with others previously 

 described. 



* Besides the above mentioned works of a general character, I may mention 

 that a full account of the Papuan and Moluccan Pigeons has been given by 

 myself in the third volume of the ' Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle 

 Molucche,' pp. 1-218, that a paper on the African Pigeons has been published 

 by Capt. Shelley (' Ibis,' 1883, pp. 258-330), and that Dr. Wiglesworth has 

 given an account of the Polynesian species in his excellent paper, " Aves 

 Polynesia;" (Abb.. Zool. u. Anth. Ethn. Mas. Dresd, 1801). 



