07 i the Snozv Pigeon.



207



at the tip, doubtless this is to enable the bird to get a firm footing

on the rocks, they soon get worn down ; the adult birds, even in

captivity, having much shorter and blunter claws.


I now come to the bird which died when it was a little

over three months old. The first quill and tail-feathers are still

retained, but nearly the whole of the smaller feathers seem to

have been renewed, many are still growing and so are perfectly

fresh moulted, this perhaps accounts for the brilliant colouring

of this bird ; the upper surface as well as the sides of the head

are a good shade darker than in the adult, being of a blackish-

grey colour, the chin is lighter and does not yet seem to have

been moulted, numerous pin feathers appearing here; the upper

surface of the body does not call for special remark, beyond the

fact that the three bars on the wings are very distinct and black ;

on the under surface all trace of the brownish buff of immaturity

has disappeared, but the crop, and to a lesser extent the abdomen,

is covered by feathers of a beautiful pure pinkish-buff; the breast

might be described as diffused with a pale rosy tint, I believe that

this is the normal colouration of this part when the feathers first

appear, but that they fade to almost pure white after a little while,

though my old birds have moulted twice since I have had them

I certainly have not remarked this rosy tint, but when the bird

is flying about it is not so conspicuous; I had not noticed it in

the young bird until I came to handle it. Although the breast

appears white in the old birds, the downy part at the bases of the

feathers is ashy-grey, and the central portion of the upper sur¬

face of the shafts of these feathers is dark-greyish in colour.

The plumage of the breast is wonderfully thick and silky looking.


This brings me to the end of my notes on this most curious

and highly interesting bird, which is also known by the names of

White-backed, White-bellied, Blanched and Hooded Pigeon. It

is seldom imported, so cannot often be obtained ; it seems scarcely

credible, yet the importer of my birds told me that there was

little demand for them and that he would never go to the trouble

of obtaining more, so singularly apathetic are Bird-keepers when

they have the opportunity of acquiring something really worth

having.



