LITTLE DODOS. 



303 



nests. They were iMaifectiy tame at first, and fed upju 

 the ground just like other Doves. Though silent birds 

 JUS individuals, yet from their immense number tlieir 

 occasional croal; vrorik blended into a continuous mur- 

 mur heard distinctly above the grinding surf. 



" 'Hundreds ini^nt eiisilj' have been shot. As it was, 

 the wliole party, niitive and Kuro.pean, were loaded ; 

 and, despite unavoidtiible losses at the lime of re- 

 em'barkiiig, some seventy were .■^afely brought on board.' 



" Mr. Davison, who was one of the party, and 

 zealously climbed numbers of tlie trees to scrutinise the 

 nests more closely, has remarked : ' Culanu,^ nicoburiva 

 builds a regular pigeon's nest, and always on trees; on 

 Batty ^Lilve, where we found this bird in thousands, 

 almost every thick, bushy tree contained several nests. 

 I counted thirteen on one tree, and I must have ex- 

 amined a couple of dozen of these nests. We visited 

 the island rather late. Nearly all the occupied nests 

 contained young, and hundreds of young had left the 

 nest. I only succeeded in finding two eggs — one par- 

 tially incubated, the other ready to hatch off — the former 

 of tlhese unfortunately got broken on the island, the 

 latter 1 succeeded in preserving by cutting a hole in one 

 side, and then placing the egg m a small paper tray near 

 an ants' nest. The nests wen'e, as I have mentioned 

 a;bove, regular Pigeons' nests — merely a platform cif 

 twigs, very loosely and careleeslv iput together, and 

 without lining of any kind, and In no single case con- 

 tained more than one young one or one egg ; so I 

 think we may safely assert that the normal number of 

 eggs laid fey tihis bird is only one." 



Sir. Hume desorijbes the egg as follows: — "The egg 

 is, of course, spotless and pure white, but the shell, 

 though compact, is very finely, almost microscopically, 

 pitte-d all over, and it has scarcely a trace of any gloss. 

 It measures 1.84 by 1.87." 



The London Zoological Society first acquired this 

 .spei"es in 1864, when six specimens were presented ; it 

 ■was bi^ in the G-ardens in Julv. 1865, Mav and Julv, 

 1866, July and August, 1868, and June, 1870 ; it bred 

 again in Septemlber, 1889. It has also been bred freely 

 by Mr. Meade Waldo. I poirchased a pair on July 5th, 

 1897, and placed them in my outdoor a^Tary, jwhere they 

 sat out under the open wire netting summer and 

 ■winter, only flying down under cover to feed. In severe 

 weather the snow piled up on their backs as they 

 roosted, and they took no notice. I never heard them 

 utter a note beyond a gruff sort of grunt, like the surly 

 "' wuff " of a large dog when irritated. 



Beautiful as the Xicofbar Pigeon is in colour, it is 

 hardly graceful either in form or action ; it is also an 

 arrant coward and bully ; my birds were so nervous 

 ■when I first received them that- when I entered the 

 aviary they iJew albout recklessly, not looking to see 

 where they were going ; the cock bird one day broke a 

 ^ring in its frantic efforts to get away from me, and 

 had perforce to sit quietly on a box for a. fortnig'iit 

 before he could use the wing again. I think this some- 

 what sobered him, but he continued nervous and ex- 

 citalble for some time. He took no notice of his hen 

 at any time, excepting to peck her and utter an angj''y 

 grunt if sihe settled on the branch, near him. 



Eventually I brouglht these birds indoors, and placed 

 them in one of the sm.iJler of my covered aviaries, 

 giving them the top of a hamper supported high np in 

 -a corner to induce them to breed, but they never made 

 .£he slightest attempt to reproduce their kind. The 

 female died on Jan. 18, 1902, and the male, I think, 

 about two years later. The taxidermist omitted to 

 in.sert- the date on its label. 



The Nicobar Pigeon is an exceedingly handsome bird 

 as regards colourmg, but it is so apathetic that one 



soon wearies of it ; moreover, to see it to perfection a 

 very large aviai-y is required. 



I agree with Dr, Russ that the GouruIiE are altogether 

 too large to be suitalbde either for the bird-room or 

 aviary ; in fact, a Pigeon the size of a Turkey is, as 

 he states, only fit for Zoological Gardens or Parks. I 

 therefore shall follow his excellent example, and not 

 include the Crown-Pigeons in the present work. Tlh.ree 

 .species have been represented at the London (iardens — 

 Gmirn rnrntiala. (!. irlateri, and G. virtinia: ; they are 

 most majesltic birds. 



LITTLE DODOS {DulwnculvhfA 



Characteric-ed by a hooked bill, the lower mandible 

 seriated near the tip, which is truncated, the no-strils 

 oblique ; the front of the tarsus very imperfectly scaled. 

 The family consists of oite species occurring on the 

 Samoan Islands. In captivity it wooild prolbalbJy be most 

 suitaibiy fed uipon banajia, imtato, ap'ples. etc. It will 

 however, also eat bread, almonds, hemp-seed, etc. 



ToOTK-BlLLED PiGEON {Didunculus strigirostru). 



Head, neck, and mantle metallic blactoish-green, the 

 fealfchers of the tiwo last someiwthat greyish on the edges ; 

 back, rump, upper tail-coverlts, wing-s, and tail chest- 

 nut ; base of tail-iieiathers blackisli-brown, especially on 

 tile inner welbs ; iiiglhitis aibove,, excepting the inner 

 secondaries, brown ; chin, throat, and upper breaist 

 metal. ic blackish-green ; lower breast and a'bdomen 

 brownish -Iblack ; under tail-coverts brownielli-t'hestavut ; 

 flights below greyiish-lbroiwn ; under wing-coverts 

 brown; bill orange; base of under mandible oinnamon- 

 red ; feet oolu'eoius I'ed ; naked orbital sikin fleshy Jred ; 

 irides .brown. Female not. differentiated. Young brown, 

 witih orescentic rufous bands on feathers of itpper parts 

 and breast. Hab.. Upolu, Savai, and Tutuila. 



According to Russ, this Pigeon has the power of 

 moving the"" upper mandilble like the Paiirots. In 1865 

 Professor Newton exiliibited an egg of the Tooth-lbilled 

 Pigeon at a meeting of the Zoological Society, and the 

 same vear the second volume of Goidd's " Handbook to 

 the Birds of Australia " appeared, in the Appendix to 

 which, pp. 557-560, a full account of this singular pigeon 

 is publislied. From this I cull the following : — " It is 

 named by the natives 'Manu-mea,' or Red-bird, from 

 the most predominant colour of its plumage being 

 chocolate-red. It was foi-merly numerous, and we may 

 therefore be surprised that it should not have been 

 seen and procured by the early navigators; now" it is 

 nearly extinct. It feeds on plantains, and is partial to 

 the fi'uit of the ' Soi,' a species of Dioscorea, or yam, a 

 tivining plant abundant in the islands, and producing a 

 fruit resembling a small potato. In disposition it is 

 exceedingly shy and timid. Like the Ground-Pigeons, 

 it roosts on bushes or stumps of trees, and feeds on the 

 ground. It also builds its nest in such situations. 

 During the breeding season both parents aid in the duty 

 of incubation, relieve each other with gi-eat regularity, 

 and are so intent on the performance of their duty that, 

 when sitting on their eggs, they may be easily captured 

 by the hand. Two living birds were obtained in this 

 ■way by Mr. Stair. They are al.'so taken by the natives 

 with bii-dlime or springes, and shot with arrows, the 

 sportsman concealing himself near an 0)>en si)ace in 

 which a quantity of the ' soi,' their favouiite food, has 

 been placed. 



" Tlie first living bird obtained was accidentally 

 killed ; the second, when placed in confinement, at first 

 was sullen and refused food, but soon became reconciled 

 to captivity and throve ■svell. The natives fed it upon 



