FRUIT-PIGEONS. 



-'47 



" Ornis " Exhibition in 1893, and priced them at 25 

 marks, and of late years others have appeared from 

 time to time in the bird-market. 



We now come to the most brilliantly-coloured of the 

 Fruit-Pigeons, birds which it would be a delight to see 

 in our aviaries, but which are incomprehensibly rare in 

 the bird-market, namely, the species of the large genus 

 Ptilopus. 



The British Museum Catalogue describes no less than 

 seventy-five different forms of this most attractive 

 group. Mr. D. G. Elliot, speaking of their geographical 

 distribution, says : " The members of the genus 

 Ptilopus are found in only two of the zoogeographical 

 regions of the earth, viz., the Oriental and Australian. 

 Of these the latter contains by far the great majority 

 of the species, and . . . the Papuan group of the 

 Austro-Malayan sub-region is apparently the head- 

 quarters of the genus. The Polynesian sub-region also 

 possesses many species ; but they are altogether of a 

 different style of plumage, and constitute almost a 

 division by themselves. 



Of the seventy-five known species only .^even appear 

 to have been imported alive into Europe, although many 

 thousands of specimens have been wantonly slaughtei'ed 

 in order to decorate ladies' bonnets ; indeed, Mr. Elliot, 

 states that he saw one box three feet scmare containing 

 hundreds of examples of one species, which were 

 destined to be torn to pieces to supply the demands of 

 this disgraceful fashion.* 



JAMBOO FRUIT-PIGEON (Ptilopus jambu). 



The adult male has the head to the middle of the 

 crown, behind the eyes, across the ear-coverts to the 

 throat, deep crimson ; the back of head, nape, and 

 upper parts generally bronze-green ; the primaries are 

 black, with dark blue-green outer webs ; their tips and 

 secondaries narrowly edged externally with buffish 

 white ; tail above green, but with somewhat buffish 

 terminal band ; the back of ear-coverts, sides, and front 

 of neck pure white, tinted with buff on the sides of 

 the breast and all over the abdomen ; a chestnut stripe 

 passes down the chin and middle of throat; the middle 

 of the breast is flushed with pink ; the flanks, axillaries, 

 and thighs are greyish-green ; the under tail-coverts 

 deep cinnamon ; wings below leaden grey, excepting 

 the under-coverts, which are green ; tail below blackish- 

 grey, with pale terminal band; bill bright yellow; 

 feet deep red ; iris red. 



The female has the facial mask of a duller crimson, 

 the stripe down the throat deep cinnamon ; the breast 

 greyish-green, changing behind to greyish-white; the 

 under tail-coverts paler than in the male. The young 

 are most like the female, but show no crimson on the 

 head and have bufnsh-white under tail-coverts. Hab., 

 Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Bangka, Billiton, and 

 Borneo. 



Mr. C. Hose says (The Ibis, 1893, p. 422) that this 

 is a "low-country species, but found on Mount Dulit 

 at 5,000 ft." 



Mr. Frank Finn (The Ibis, 1901, p. 443) observes 

 that Mr. Rutledge, of Calcutta, has on a few occasions 

 procured the lovely Ptilopus jmn-ltn, and he adds: 

 " Fruit-Pigeons are quite easy to keep, as they live 

 well on any soft vegetable food, such as sat-oo paste or 

 boiled rice, and I wonder that the home dealers do not 

 take more trouble to introduce these most exquisitely 

 coloured birds." 



Mr. L. Wray, jun., states (cf. "Proceedings of the 



* I believe an eighth species has been imported since this 

 account went to press. 



Zoological Society," 1887, p. 432) that this species is 

 very rare in Perak. He describes the soft parts as 

 follows : " Irides white, bill yellow, feet and legs red.'* 



As this is the unfortunate bird referred to by Mr. 

 Elliot as one of the subjects chosen for wholesale 

 slaughter, as, moreover, it is common at Banjermassing, 

 in Borneo, and probably in other parts of the Malay 

 Archipelago, which it inhabits, there ought to be no 

 difficulty in securing living examples. In its wild state 

 it subsists chiefly upon various species of figs. 



This species first reached the London Zoological 

 Gardens in 1870 ; a pair was added in 1874 and a fourth 

 example in 1875 ; it reached the Amsterdam Gardens in 

 1874. 



BANDED FRUIT-PIGEON (Ptilopus fasciatus). 



Back, rump, and upper tail-coverts bronzy green ; 

 wings shining green, with yellow edges to the flights ; 

 inner secondaries with lilac spots towards the tips ; 

 tail above green, with a broad yellow terminal belt ; 

 forehead and crown magenta, faintly edged behind 

 with yellow ; back of head, neck, and breast greyish- 

 green ; throat yellowish-white ; a dark purple band 

 between the breast and abdomen ; the latter rufescent 

 in the centre ; hinder abdomen and vent yellow ; under 

 tail-coverts yellow, tinged with orange, or even slightly 

 rosy ; tail below dark grey, with a pale grey terminal 

 belt tinged with yellow ; bill greenish-grey ; feet 

 purple ; irides yellowish-buff. Female smaller, with 

 no yellow edging to the magenta on the crown ; the 

 back of neck and mantle greyish-green, paler than the 

 back; underparts altogether greener. Hab., Samoan 

 Islands. 



The Rev. S. J. Whitmee (" Proceedings of the Zoo- 

 logical Society," 1873, p. 153) says : " The Ptilopus 

 fasciatus is a favourite bird with the natives of these 

 islands, and is kept very generally by them. Its 

 native name is Manu-tagi (the crying bird). The 

 Samoans train it to act as a decoy, and take it into 

 the woods in a wicker cage open at the top. When it 

 calls, other birds come to it and enter the cage, when 

 they are taken by the native, who lies hidden near the 

 spot. The birds thus taken are eaten by the natives. 

 But this custom of decoying is going out now in con- 

 sequence of the ease with which the birds may be 

 shot." 



Mr. M. J. Nicoll (The Ibis, 1904. p. 61) says : " This 

 beautiful little Pigeon is not uncommon in Upolu at 

 an altitude of about 1,000ft., but is very shy. It feeds 

 on the fruit of a tall tree ; this fruit is about the size 

 of a large olive, and is swallowed entire." 



In his " Three Voyages of a Naturalist," p. 236, 

 the same writer observes : " The most numerous and 

 probably the most beautifully coloured of all the birds 

 in Samoa is a small Dove, of about the size of a Turtle- 

 Dove, with an emerald green back, a ruby red crown, 

 and a brilliantly-coloured breast of several shades of 

 red and yellow." 



Russ observes that at the Exhibition of the " Ornis " 

 Society of Berlin in 1881 Miss Virginia Wohlgemuth, 

 of Charlottenburg, near Berlin, sent this lovely 

 Pigeon, which is prized here on account of its beauty 

 and rarity. The brother of the lady, who was an 

 officer of the German marine, had brought it from the 

 Samoan Islands. Otherwise it has only once arrived 

 alive in Europe, one example in 1862 at the Zoological 

 Gardens of London." 



" In 1883 Miss Wohlgemuth made me a present of the 

 pigeon, and it survived for two years longer in my bird- 

 room. It was evidently of a good age when I received 

 it. It sat motionless there, or fed upon the food 



