252 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



" This bird is called ' Sonki,' or " Songi,' by jsoriie 

 Tiatives, especially about Taviuni. It has fourteen tail- 

 feathers. Mr. Storck writes from the R^wa that it feeds 

 largely on the wild nutmeg, the large drupe-like seeds 

 of some Laurinaceous forest trees, and the fruits of 

 iKith the Kaufia Pakus. 



" I have received eggs laid in April, pure shining 

 "white, axis 1" 10 ', diani. 1" 3 '. Some natives say they 

 •only lay one egg ; but this I doubt. 



ilr. M. J. Niooll (The Ibif, 1904, p. 63) describes the 

 soft parts as follows : " Iris red ; bill dark brown ; tarsi 

 and toes dull red." Tlie London Zoological Society 

 purchased two examples of this Fruit-Pigeon in April, 

 1866 : it does not appear to have been imported more 

 Tecently. 



Nutmeg Fkvit-Pigeon {.Uyriftiricora licolor). 



The adult bird in both sexes is creamy-white ; the 

 bastard wing, the flights (except the tertiaries), the 

 primary coverts, and the terminal part of the tail black, 

 the central feathers being about half black, this colour 

 decreasing towards the outermost pair, in which only 

 "the tip and part of the outer web are black ; bill, leaden 

 blue, dark at the tip ; feet, smalt-blue ; iris, dark 

 brown. The female has a more slender bill than the 

 male. Hab., Mergui and the Andamans eastward to 

 the Philippines and southward to Java, and perhaps 

 •Christmas Island, also the Australian portion of the 

 Malay Archipelago. 



This bird is said to be rather difficult to secure, from 

 the fact that it affects cliiefly the summits of the highest 

 "trees. It is sometimes seen in small compa'nies of from 

 twelve to twenty individuals : it lays a pure white egg. 

 In Borneo it appears to be sometimes called " Burong- 

 Tawa," and sometimes " Peagam rawa." 



Captain Wimberlev (quoted by Hume, " Nests and 

 Eggs," Vol. II., p. 3691 says: "I obtai-ned this egg on 

 Trinkut Island (Nicobarsl during the first week of 

 February. The nest was built of sticks and twigs, and 

 was very similar to that of our English Wood-Pigeon. 

 There was only one egg in the nest, and it w"as much 

 addled. The nest was placed in a low mangrove-tree 

 overhanging the river, and the old bird flew off the nest 

 as I drew near to it, but I failed to shoot it." Mr. 

 Hume says : " The egg is of a longish oval shape, a 

 good deal pointed towards the small end, pure white, 

 and tolerably glossy. It measures 1.78 by 1.25." Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Davison the breeding-season is from 

 January to March. It usually lays only one egg. 



The Nutmeg Fruit-Pigeon is the only member of the 

 family which I ever had an opportunity of acquiring, 

 and I resisted the temptation without much difficulty. 

 As Dr. Russ tells us. it only comes into the market now 

 and again, having reached the Amsterdam Gardens in 

 1859, those of London in 1867, and those of Berlin in 

 1893. For a pied bird I prefer the small and easiW 

 Tiept Tambourine Dove ; mere rarity doe.s not appeal 

 to me much. 



Spotted Frfit-Pigeon (.l/yri-yicirora spilorrJwa). 



Differs from the preceding in having regular sub- 

 lerminal black spots on some of the flank-feathers 

 covering the thighs, on those of the vent and on the 

 "under tail-coverts. The plumage is sometimes more or 

 less tinged with grey. Hab., Australia, Ea.stern Papuan 

 Lslands, Eastern New Guinea, also Western New 

 "Guinea, and Aru Islands. 



According to Gilbert, this pigeon " pairs and com- 

 mences breeding immediately after its arrival in Novem- 

 ber. The nest is formed of a few sticks laid across one 

 another in opposite directions, and is so slight a struc- 



ture that the eggs may usually be seen through the 

 interstices from beneath;, and it "is so flat that it appears 

 "vvonderful how the eggs remain upon it when the branch 

 is waA"ing about in the wind ; it is usually built on a, 

 horizontal branch of a mangrove, and it would seem that 

 it prefere for this purpose a branch overhanging water. 

 That it never lays more than one egg appears to me 

 without a doubt, for on visiting Tablehead River, on 

 the eastern side of the harbour of Port Essington, I 

 found no less than twenty nests, all of which contained 

 either a single egg or a single young bird." 



Mr. A, J. Campbell describes the egg as " elliptical 

 in shape ; texture of shell somewhat coarse, especially 

 on the smaller end : surface slightly glossy ; colour, 

 pure white. Dimensions in inches {!) 1.76 bv 1.24, (2) 

 1.7 bv 1.18." 



ilr. E. Olive says {The Ibi/:. 1900, p. 647) : " Abundant 

 at Cooktown during the winter months : breeding in 

 enormous multitudes on the outlying islands of the 

 Barrier Reef, some eight or nine mile.s from the main- 

 land. In the early morning thgy wend their way to 

 their feeding-grounds in the scrubs, sometimes flying 

 as gi'eat a distance as forty miles, and return to roost 

 on the islands at night. They feed principally on a 

 species of nutmeg {Mi/rigfica in.^iinda]. of which I have 

 found as many as eiglit or nine fi'uits in the crop. Iris 

 dark brown; feet bluish-slate; bill greenish-yellow." 



iMiss Rosie Alderson possessed an example of this 

 species supposed at first to be the more frequently im- 

 ported Nntmeg Pigeon. 



White Fruit-Pigeon {^{l/)•ifticil■o)^a Juetuoxa). 



Differs from .V. h'irolor in the black-edged slate-grey 

 colour of all the flight-feathers : some of the flank- 

 feathers covering the thighs, the feathers of the vent, 

 and the basal under tail-coverts, with large black spots. 

 Hab., Celebes and Sula Islands. 



Dr. Guillemard (" Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," 1885. p. 557) describes the soft parts as 

 follows : " Iris dark brown ; bill bluish-green, yellow 

 at the tip ; tarsus bluish-green." 



Doubtless the wild life of this species closely resembles 

 that of the two preceding species. Russ confounds it 

 with M. npUnrrhoa, so that his statement that it 

 reached the Amsterdam Zoological Gardens in 1857 may 

 apply either to that or the present species. One speci- 

 men was presented to the London Zoological Society 

 in 1867, and four were purchased in 1870. 



Double-crested Fruit-Pigeon 

 {Lophnhxmus antarcticus). 



General plumage of adult bird, including the frontal 

 crest, grey, darker above than below; a line of black 

 from each eye to the occiput, which unites posteriorly, 

 and is continued a short wa,v down the bark of the 

 neck ; sides of head rust reddish ; feathers of chin 

 elongated ; those of neck and breast hackled ; quills 

 black ; inner secondaries grey ; tail black, grey at base, 

 and crossed by an irregular band of buffish-gre.v about 

 an inch from its extremity; bill bright rose-red, lilacino 

 at tip. the cere and base of lower mandible greenish- 

 leaden in the male, but lead colour in the female; feet 

 purplish-red, greyish-brown at the back and on the 

 soles ; iris fiery orange, with rosy lashes ; a bare mealy 

 pink patch surrounding eye. Female, in addition to 

 difference already noted, probably smaller and with 

 rather less developed crest. Young with shorter crest, 

 a narrower and less defined band on tail. Hab., 

 Eastern Australia, from Cape York to Tasmania. 



A very gregarious bird, which is often seen passing 

 over the forests and brushes in flocks of many hundreds 



