FEUIT-PIGEOXS. 



243 



tail- co verts yellowish- white, centred with ashy olive- 

 .green. Hab., " Kaschmir, along the Himalayas and 

 Burmese countries as far south as Mooleyit in Tenas- 

 .serim. " (Salvadori). 



Jerdon says ("Birds of India," Vol. III., p. 453): 

 " Th-ey frequent high trees, and feed, of course, exclu- 

 sively on fruit. Hutten found them breeding in May 

 and June, making the usual nest of dried twigs, and 

 with two white eggs. 



" The male has a, most agreeable note, more prolonged 

 and musical than that of Crocopus. Blyth eays of it : 

 ' The 'notes bear some resemblance to the human voice 

 in singing, and are highly musical in, tone, being con- 

 siderably prolonged and modulated, but always terminat- 

 ing abruptly, and every time the stave "isi repeated 

 exactly as before, so that it soon 'becomes wearisome to 

 a European ear.' After moulting in confinement the' 

 green colour, in. some specimens, becomes replaced by 

 .a delicate pearl-grey, and the russet tinge of the head 

 and 1 breast becomes pate marone." 



Rues states that in captivity in Europe this species 

 has only appeared at the London Zoological Gardens, an 

 -example having been presented in 1867 and a second 

 .ten years later. 



WAALIA FRUIT-PIGEON (Vinago waalia}. 



Upper surface mostly olive ; lesser and median wing- 

 'Coverts, excepting the innermost ones, rich vinous ; 

 wings otherwise Wackieih-brown, the outer median and 

 .greater coverts and the secondaries with yellow borders 

 to the outer webs, the primaries with narrow yellowish. 

 edges; central tail-feathers leaden-grey, the other 

 feathers with .a terminal leaden-grey belt; head, neck, 

 and front of breast greyish-olive; back of breast bright 

 3 ellow ; sides olive-greyish ; abdomen whitish-buff ; 

 .thighs buff, more or less yellowish ; under tail-coverts 

 with broad whitish-buff borders, the centres of the 

 smaller ones dark Olivaceous-grey, of the longer ones 

 'chestnut ; wings below and axillaries leaden-grey ; under 

 wing-coverts slightly greenish ; tail below black with 

 .a broad terminal grey belt; bill bluish-grey with the 

 .Tbase red ; feet pinkish-yellow ; irides blue, with an outer 

 .rim of salmon-pink (" whitish -yellow " Antinori). 

 Female smaller, and probably with a more slender bill. 

 Hab., "North-East Africa. Somaliland, iSocotra, and 

 through the Equatorial region to 'Senegambia." (Sal- 

 vadori. ) 



Heuglin says : " According to my notes the iris is 

 either whitish with a bluish tinge, violet, or yellowish 

 with a distinct sky-'blue ring, or brownish-yellow with 

 a similar ring, or, lastly, sky-blue encircled with 

 brownish-yellow." He remarks respecting the wild 

 life ( " Ornithologie Nord-Ost Africa's," Vol. I., pp. 819, 

 820) : " Brehm, like myself, considers this to be a resi- 

 dent bird, and according to him it assembles in small 

 'families in the deeper mountain valleys and the plains 

 of Samhar (Abyssinian coastal region), lying imme- 

 diately at the foot of the mountains, in which the 

 beauty of the tropical region has become permanent. 

 Lofty umbrageous acacias, which the Christ-thorn sur- 

 rounds as a protection and the Crisus with its manifold' 

 tendrils interlaces, there form the chosen home of this 

 pigeon, while in the mountain valleys the beautiful 

 tamarinds, kigelias, with their dense foliage, and lastly 

 the shady summits of the more mighty sycamores, still 

 afford suitable residences. On the other hand, I never 

 met with the Waalia upon acacias or kigelias. 



" It is a tolerably skulking bird, which understands 

 well how to conceal itself in the foliage and, as it were, 

 to crouch against the grey-green branches of the fig 

 "trees, so that one rarely catches sight of it. If one 

 -approaches the favourite" trees, one of the pigeons after 



another shoots noisily off in the opposite direction in order 

 again to conceal itself in the crown of another tree. The 

 Waalia betrays its presence to the hunter, however, from 

 a great distance by its restless disposition, the napping 

 of its wings, and a peculiar twittering and whistling of 

 the amorous males, lastly in that these birds are always 

 busy feeding and throw a quantity of fruits on the 

 ground. When flying away one notices a violent jerk 

 or forward impulse, and then the vigorous napping of 

 the wings. The' flight iteelf is quick as lightning and 

 direct, in spite of the heavy body, but the necessary 

 effort required for it seems soon to tire the pigeon. 

 According to my hunter's assurance, the Waalia breeds 

 in the hollow branches of the daro trees. I did not see 

 it on the earth. We also never found cereals in the 

 crop. At the time when, figs are ripe its whole face is 

 often plastered with the yellow pulp of these fruits, also 

 the fat is of a deep yellow colour, while the dry flesh 

 is hard and tasteless." 



Two specimens of this pigeon reached the London 

 Zoological Gardens in November, 1898. 



THICK-BILLED FRUIT-PIGEON (Vinago crassirostris) . 



Upper surface mostly dark olive ; upper wing-coverts 

 near bend of wing dark purple ; greater coverts with a 

 pale yellow band near tips ; primary coverts and flights 

 blackish, the latter edged with yellow ; tail dark grey, 

 central feathers edged with olivaceous towards the base, 

 lateral ones black aibout the middle; head, neck, and 

 breast dank olivaceous-grey ; abdomen, flanks, and tibial 

 feathers yellow ; flank-feathers dark olive down the 

 centre ; under wing-coverts and flights below leaden- 

 grey, the former edged with dark olive ; tail below 

 black, with a broad terminal grey 'belt ; bill short and 

 thick, grey at tip, dark red at base 1 ; feet yellow; irides 

 bluish-white. Female smaller and of a deeper colour. 

 Hab., "Islands of St. Thomas and Rollas, W. Africa." 

 (Salvadori.) 



I can discover no field notes relating to this species, 

 nor does Dr. Ru&s seem to have noticed it, although 

 it was represented in the London Zoological Society's 

 collection as long ago as 1865, and was again received 

 in 1884. 



BARE-FACED FRUIT-PIGEON (Vinago calva). 



Above mostly olive-green ; a broad leaden-grey collar 

 at base of hind neck ; a vinous-purple patch near the 

 bend of the wing ; primary-coverts and flights black, 

 the latter edged with yellow ; greater wing-coverts and 

 secondaries bordered with yellow ; tail grey, the lateral 

 feathers with a more or less distinct paler terminal belt ; 

 forehead naked, and apparently swollen into a large 

 knob ; head, neck, and underparts more or less yellowish 

 olive-green ; flanks olive, the feathers edged with 

 yellowish-white ; centre of abdomen pale yellow ; tibial 

 feathers bright yellow under tail-coverts cinnamon, 

 edged with pale buff, the smaller ones partly olive, edged 

 with whitish ; under wing-coverts greenish leaden-grey ; 

 flights below leaden-grey ; tail below black, with a 

 terminal grey belt ; bill bluish-grey, red towards base ; 

 feet yellowish-flesh or orange-yellow ; irides blue, sur- 

 rounded by a red rim. Female smaller, with smaller 

 vinous patch on the shoulder, and little or no grey on 

 the nape. Hab., " Western Africa from Bissao to 

 Angola, and through Equatorial Africa to East Africa, 

 as far south as Zambesi." (Salvadori.) 



Heuglin gives no account of the habits of this pigeon 

 in his work, but Reichenow describes its call-note as 

 a prolonged turr. Dr. S. L. Hinde (The Ibis, 1898, 

 p. 586) says : " Common wherever there are a few 

 trees from Mombasa Island inland. This bird never 



