408 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



and the white feathers of his breast are split at their ends, the re- 

 sulting points being tipped with red. The female is less elaborately 

 adorned but is yet extremely attractive. 



Still more wonderful in its trtily flamboyant attire is the far- 

 famed, through rare, flame-colored or orange dove {Chi'ysaena 

 victor), whose flight through the forest has been aptly likened to 

 "the passage of a rocket on a dark night." The male bird has a 

 velvety, olive-colored cap with a bright yellow border, the rest of 

 the body-covering, both above and below, being composed of closely 

 applied, hair-like feathers of a brilliant, glossy orange-red; "flame- 

 colored " describes it more accurately. The entire plumage of the 

 female is rich green; yellowish-green on the head and throat. I 

 have never seen a more impressive study in feathered monochrome 

 than is presented by this beautiful little dove. Finally, one of the 

 most attractive of these Colunibiformes is the Fijian ground dove 

 {Gallicoluniba staii'i vitiensis), intermediate in size and, perhaps, 

 beauty between the smaller doves and the larger pigeons. The gen- 

 eral coloration of this species is dark brown wath bronze and purple 

 reflections. He has a genuine " coo " as his call note, and is still to 

 be found in those localties that are free of the mongoose. In Viti 

 Levu some individuals still survive. They have learned to avoid 

 ground feeding as much as possible, and to build on the small 

 branches of high trees to which the enemy can not climb. A notice- 

 able character of some of these Fijian birds is their "barking" 

 notes — those of the golden dove in particular. In the deep jungle 

 one is often startled by a succession of clear or hoarse dog-like 

 sounds, so familiar that if one does not Imow their origin they are 

 readily attributed to a dog that has strayed from home. 



