SOUTHERN GREEN PIGEON 23 
says that they have at least two broods yearly, and perhaps more. Their 
eggs cannot be distinguished from those of O. ph. phoenicopterus and C. ph. 
viridifrons. 
In habits there is nothing to distinguish the Southern Green 
Pigeon from the Bengal and Burmese birds. It is curious and should 
be noted that this subspecies also, like the others, is credited with never 
coming to the ground to drink. Reid writes in Stray Feathers, Vol. X, 
that “natives believe this bird never descends to the ground, and that 
when it desires to drink it settles on a reed which bends over with its 
weight and thus enables it to drink.” 
Mr. C. S. R. Pitman, lec., writes that in the Central Provinces 
he has noticed Green Pigeon (Crocopus chlorogaster) drinking both at 
dawn, and in the evening about 4.30 or 5 p.m. 
Jerdon also says that he has seen this bird in Chanda, when it was 
breeding, “come in large parties, generally about 9 a.m., to certain 
spots on river banks to drink, and after taking a draught of water, 
occasionally walk a few steps on the damp sand, appearing to pick 
up small pebbles, pieces of gravel or sand.” 
E. H. A. has a charming account of this bird in his Common Birds 
of Bombay which cannot be passed over. He writes: “The Fruit 
Pigeons are green birds, which try to be parrots, but nature has stamped 
them doves; they live entirely on fruit, which they swallow whole, 
not having parrot beaks to carve it with. A very wide gape and a 
most capacious and elastic throat make amends to some extent for this 
defect ; but still the Fruit Pigeon is obliged to do without mangoes and 
guavas ... It finds compensation in the many varieties of wild figs 
which every forest in India produces in such liberal profusion. When a 
fig-tree fruits, it fruits all over, and all at once, offering a feast to the 
whole country, such as a Rajah gives when an heir is born to the throne ; 
and as mendicant Brahmins gather from distant provinces to the 
Rajah’s feasts, so the Fruit Pigeons from afar flock together to this 
tree while it lasts ; first about eight in the morning, and again about 
four in the afternoon. Then is the time to shoot them, for they are 
excellent eating, especially if their tough skins have been taken off 
before cooking. It is difficult at first to see them for they are verdant 
like the foliage among which they sit strangely silent and motion- 
less, but after much peering among the leafy boughs you may catch 
sight of a tail slowly oscillating like a pendulum. There is a solitary 
