FRUIT-PIGEONS. 



251 



London Zoological Society in July, 1901, and in 1904 

 and again in 1905 one young one was hatched in the 

 gardens, the later one being apparently successfully 

 reared. 



BLUE-TAILED FRUIT-PIGEON (Carpophaga concinna). 



Back, rump, upper wing and tail coverts, metallic 

 golden-green somewhat shot with blue ; flights steely 

 blue-black, the secondaries brighter; tail above metallic 

 steely blue ; head, neck, breast, and abdomen pale 

 grey ; frontal edge whitish ; back of head and nape 

 tinged with pale vinous ; under tail-coverts chestnut ; 

 under wing-coverts dark grey, shot with golden-green ; 

 flights below slaty-black ; tail below black ; bill dark 

 horn-colour ; feet vinous-red ; irides pale yellowish- 

 orange ; eyelids pale with a white edge. Female rather 

 smaller. Hab., " Tenimber Islands, S.W. Papuan 

 Islands Aru and Ke Isl. ; Moluccas Tejoor, Mata- 

 bello, Monawolka, Pandjang, Goram, Banda, Batang 

 Kitjil and Sanghir Islands" (Salvadori). 



I have discovered no field-notes relating to this 

 species. An example reached the London Zoological 

 Society's Gardens in November, 1900, and two others 

 in October, 1904. 



RED-XAPED FRUIT-PIGEOX (CarpopTiaga paulina}. 



Back, upper tail-coverts and upper wing-coverts 

 metallic golden-green ; flights above metallic greyish- 

 green ; tail metallic green ; head, neck, throat and 

 under surface generally pearly-grey, the vertex, throat, 

 and abdomen with a roseate suffusion ; forehead 

 whitish; nape coppery-chestnut; under tail-coverts 

 chestnut ; under wing-coverts grey : tail below dark 

 grey ; bill leaden-blue, red from above nostrils to base ; 

 feet vinous-red ; irides deep red ; eyelids red. Female 

 smaller, her bill a trifle longer and more slender; the 

 under surface more uniformly coloured. Hab., Celebes 

 and Sula Islands. 



Dr. Guillemard (" Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," 1885, p. 557) thus describes the soft parts : 

 " Iris indian-red ; tarsus red ; bill in male bluish-green, 

 with a red patch at the base of upper mandible. The 

 female is without this." " Native name, Kum-kum." 



Russ says : " In the years 1874 and 1880 it arrived at 

 the Zoological Gardens of London, and in the year 

 1894 a pair was present at the exhibition of the 

 ' ^Egintha ' Society of Berlin." 



BRONZE FRUIT-PIGEON (Carpophaga cenea). 



The adult male has the head, neck, breast, and 

 abdomen vinous-grey ; frontal margin and chin, whitish ; 

 back, rump, upper tail-coverts and wings bronze green ; 

 flights and tail above bluish-green ; under tail-coverts 

 deep chestnut ; flights and tail below blackish ; bill 

 grey, dull red at base ; edges of eyelids and feet 

 purplish-red ; iris red. The female is smaller than the 

 male, and the plumage of the under surface is more 

 uniformly coloured. Hab., India, Ceylon, the Andaman 

 Islands, Burma, and Malaysia, Cochin China, Hainan, 

 the Sunda Islands, Philippines, and Sulu Islands. 



This bird inhabits low-lying forest regions, and was 

 formerly believed not to occur at a higher elevation 

 than 1,500 ft. Mr. C. Hose, however, obtained it up 

 to 2,000 ft. on Mount Dulit, where its native name is 

 "Pergum" (vide The Ibis, 1893, p. 421). Mr. F. 

 Lewis, writing of it as observed in the Sabaragamuwa 

 Province, Ceylon, states (The Ibis, 1898, pp. 549, 550) : 

 "It is found in both the very wet as well as in very 

 dry parts of it. I have found it up the valley of the 

 Kaluganga river, the Wallaway river, the Kalani river, 

 and the Maha Oya stream, but it is met with in 



greatest abundance in. the Kolonna Korah, where it is. 

 often to be found in large flocks. I have questioned 

 many natives on the nidification of this well-known 

 pigeon, but beyond a vague statement that it nests 

 on the tops of very high trees, I am unable to give 

 any satisfactory evidence." 



Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, writing on birds of the Island 

 of Negros (The Ibis, 1900, p. 358), says : "The Bronze. 

 Fruit-Pigeon is very common, and nests in high trees 

 in the mountains. It visits the mangrove-swamps near 

 the coast daily in great flocks, ' thousands upon, 

 thousands of them.' The native name is 'Balud.' " 



Its note is said to resemble the syllables " wuck- 

 wooor," the second note being sepulchral in character,, 

 and is generally heard most about 10 o'clock in the 

 morning. In Ceylon its favourite food consists of the 

 berries of the bob tree and the ironwood, and the 

 branches of these trees may be seen laden with the 

 birds when the fruit is ripe ; they are also fond of wild 

 nutmegs, the mace of which they digest, regurgitating 

 the nutmegs. 



From the little that is known respecting the nidifica- 

 tion of this common fruit-pigeon, it appears that it 

 builds a slight nest of sticks and stiff grasses in April 

 or May, and lays two broad oval pure white eggs. In 

 this respect it differs from most other members of the 

 genus, which only lay one egg. 



This species reached the Amsterdam Zoological 

 Gardens in 1838 ; in 1866 the first example was secured 

 for the London Gardens, a second being presented in 

 the year following, three being received in exchange 

 in 1871, and one presented in 1878. Others have been 

 added since that date. In 1879 Dr. Platen brought 

 home eighteen specimens from the Malay Archipelago, 

 and sold them at the rate of 40 marks the pair. Both 

 Landauer and A. E. Blaauw possessed specimens, and 

 the latter gentleman states that when once acclimatised' 

 this bird becomes very enduring, and may be kept cut 

 of doors both in summer and winter. A pair of the 

 Philippine race (C. chalybura] was imported by Mrs. 

 Johnstone in 1903. 



Russ regards C. sylvatlca as distinct, and says that 

 it differs in the pure white colouring of the upper 

 throat and region of the bill and eyes, and by its. 

 superior size ; he says it has only once reached Europe 

 alive, and that was in 1875, when it arrived at the 

 Zoological Gardens of Amsterdam. On the other hand, 

 Salvadori tells us that C. sylvatica "has smaller 

 dimensions." 



BROWN-TAILED FRUIT-PIGEON (Carpophaga latrans). 



Back and rump dark brown ; scapulars, upper wing 

 and tail coverts dark glossy greyish-brown ; primaries 

 greyish-black ; secondaries brownish-black suffused with, 

 greyish, the base of the inner webs of all the flights 

 rufous ; tail above reddish-brown ; head and neck ashy ; 

 back of head, throat and 'breast vinous grey ; lower 

 abdomen, vent, and u'nder tail-coverts, pale reddish, 

 buff; 'under wing-coverts chestnut; flights below con- 

 spicuously rufous at base of inner webs ; tail below 

 paler than above ; bill black ; feet reddish-brown ; irides 

 blood-red or purplish-red ; eyelids carmine. Female 

 smaller than the male and more uniformly coloured on 

 under surface. Hab., Fiji Islands. 



E. L. Layard (" Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," 1875, p. 438) says : " The ' Barking Pigeon ' 

 of the settlers is generally distributed. To give some 

 idea of the gastronomic powers of these large Pigeons, 

 I annex the size of two seeds found in the crop of one, 

 axis 4", circum. 3" 6'" ; axis 5", circum. 3 . This WHS 

 only the hard, wood part; the pulp had been digested F 



