2130 



PIGEONS AND SAND GROUSE 



ing the breeding season, and then secretes a milky fluid to moisten the half-digested 

 food on which the young are nourished. The amount of food which a pigeon can 



consume in a day is almost 

 incredible, it being probable 

 that one of these birds is 

 capable of eating a quantity 

 more than equal its own 

 weight. I^ike the sand grouse, 

 pigeons drink by thrusting 

 the bill into the water and re- 

 taining it there till they have 

 quenched their thirst. All 

 pigeons pair for life, and both 



UPPER PORTION OF THE RIGHT HUMERUS OK (a) SAND 



GROUSE, (b) FOWI. AND (,) P!GEON. SCXeS ^ P" 1 1D the bUlld ' 



(From Garrod, Proc. Zooi. Soc., 1874.) ing of the nest, incubation, 



and rearing of the young. 



When hatched, the latter are naked and helpless, and thus need care from both 

 parents. The bill of the young is larger and more fleshy than that of the adult, 

 and during the operation of feeding, the old bird thrusts its beak inside that of its 

 offspring, and injects the semiliquid nutriment. The nest is a simple structure 

 composed of twigs, and generally placed in a tree; the eggs, never more than two 

 in number, being invariably pure white. 



THE GREEN, PAINTED, AND FRUIT PIGEONS 

 Family TRERONID^ 



This family contains a large number of arboreal species inhabiting Africa, 

 Southeastern Asia, and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago generally, distin- 

 guished by their rather short legs, which are feathered for more than half their 

 length, and are usually shorter than the middle toe and claw; the soles of the feet 

 being very broad, and the skin of each toe expanded on the sides. Of these birds 

 three subfamilies may be distinguished, the first containing the green pigeons, which 

 have the bill rather thick. The plumage, with a few exceptions, in which it is 

 chocolate brown, is mostly green, and most species have a yellow band across the 

 wings. In the first three genera the base of the bill is soft, and the sheath of the 

 upper mandible does not reach the feathers of the forehead. 



The wedge-tailed green pigeons (Sphenocercus) include seven differ- 

 Wedge-Tailed ent S pe C i e s, with wedge-shaped tails, and the middle feathers more or 

 less pointed, from Southeastern Asia; the best known being the 

 Himalayan and Burmese forms (S. apicicauda and 5. sphenurus). The 

 former is distinguished by having the under surface of the tail black, with a broad 

 gray band across the extremity, and the middle pair of tail feathers long and 

 pointed; while in the latter the under surface of the tail is uniform gray, and the 



Green 

 Pigeons 



