258 NATURAL HISTOnr OF BIRDS. 



to bo the glory of tlie Fijian forests. It br.ids in XoVLinber and Duccnibcr, making 

 a rude jilatform of small twigs for a nest, about ten feet from the ground, and lays 

 two ]>ure white eggs. It feeds on many kinds of berries and fruits. 



One might go on indefinitely making selections from these lovely birds, but our 

 limits forbid. It only remains to notice the bird which leads, through a chain of 

 other species of I'tilnpits that have not been mentioned, towards the genus t'urpit- 

 phwja. Tills sjiecies is ('. maijniJicuK, from Australia. It has two races representing 

 it in certain of the Papuan Islands, and also in Australia at Cape York and llocking- 

 liani I5ay. These dilYi'r from the s]iecies named mainly in size, the color of the 

 plumage not being appreciably different. It has the head and neck greenisli-gray, 

 becoming light green on side of breast ; the centre of throat and neck, breast and 

 abdonu'ii, deep ])urple ; the lower ](art of abdomen orange-yellow; under tail-coverts 

 yellowish-green ; wings, back, an<l tail green, and a yellow bar acro.ss the wing. The 

 total lengtii varies from thirteen to nineteen inches. This fine bird dwells in the 

 brush in various portions of Australia, is very shy and retired in its habits. It feeds 

 upon the wild tig and the fruit of the |)alms, and jiossesses a loud, hoai-so, monotonous 

 note (frecpiently uttered by tlie male in the breeding-season), wliich is entirely uidike 

 that of any other binl. The sexes resemble each other in plumage. 



Another Australian genus is Lopholaiimis, having but a single species, L. anlarc- 

 ticug. This is a very fine, large bird, remarkable for the thick double crest with 

 which its head is adorned. In its habits it is strictly arboreal and gregarious, going 

 in flocks of many hundred individuals, and descending upon the trees which bear its 

 favorite fruit in such multitudes as often to break the branches by their weight. Its 

 flesli is rather coarse and dry. 



The last genus which calls for notice is Carpophaga, containing thirty or forty 

 species of large size, some of which are among the finest of this family, having many 

 rich and metallic colors on the upper jiart »if their plumage. The feathers <>f the 

 forehead advance on the soft portion of the bill, and the tarsus is short, and the feet 

 broad, enabling them to gras]) firmly the branches. Some species, separated by certain 

 authors as Globicera, have a fleshy knob on the base of the bill, which is most largely 

 dcvel(>]pe<l during the breeding season in the male se.x. Their distribution is very 

 similar to that of the members of J'tilopiis, being found on many of the i-slands of the 

 various eastern archipelagoes. A very large species with a jwwerful bill, from the 

 Marquesas, was described as Serrexius f/aleutits. A group charaetorized b_v a iilack 

 and white plumage have been united by some writers under the term Jfip-indvirnni, 

 but with the exception of having a rather short tail, they differ from other mendiei-s 

 of Carj)op/i<tf/a mainly in the coloring of their plumage, hardly a generic quality. 

 Others again have been distinguished by the various terms of Pluenorliina, Ducuht, 

 Zoncenas, etc., but these, like the various divisions of the other genera already no- 

 ticed, can at most only be considered as indicating sulvgencric sections of Carpop/iaga, 

 useful, possibly, in <;roui>ing the s|)ecies together, but not possessing characters of 

 Buflicient importance to cause them to stand apart by themselves. 



A fine Indian species is C. .ii/lvaticu, with the head, neck, and under parts jiearl- 

 gray, tinged on the crown with vinaceous, the entire upjier jiaits and tail shining co])- 

 pery green ; under tail-coverts deeji chestnut; chin and orbital fe.athei-s white ; bill 

 red at base, bluish white at ti]i, irides and bare skin around the eyes crimson ; legs 

 lake-rod. It is about nineteen inches in length. This fine bird is foiuid in forests at 

 low elevations, associates in small parties in search of fruits, and visits the salt swamps 



