252 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



"This bird is called ' Sonki,' or " Songi,' by some 

 natives, especially about Taviuni. It has fourteen tail- 

 feathers. Mr. Storck writes from the Rewa that it feeds 

 largely on the wild nutmeg, the large drupe-like seeds 

 of some Laurinaceous forest trees, and the fruits of 

 T>oth the Kaufia Pakus. 



" I have received eggs laid in April, pure shining 

 white, axis 1" 10"', diam. 1" 3 '. Some natives say they 

 only lay one egg ; but this I doubt. 



Mr. M. J. Niooll (The Ibis, 1904, p. 63) describes the 

 .soft parts as follows : " Iris red ; bill dark brown ; tarsi 

 and toes dull red." The London Zoological Society 

 purchased two examples of this Fruit-Pigeon in April, 

 1866 ; it does not appear to have been imported more 

 recently. 



NUTMEG FRUIT-PIGEON (Myrixticirora l/icolor). 



The adult bird in both sexes is creamy-white ; the 

 bastard wing, the nights (except the tertiaries), the 

 primary coverts, and the terminal part of the tail black, 

 the central feathers being about half black, this colour 

 decreasing towards the outermost pair, in which only 

 the tip and part of the outer web are black ; bill, leaden 

 blue, dark at the tip ; feet, smalt-blue ; iris, dark 

 brown. The female has a more slender bill than the 

 male. Hab., Mergui and the Andamans eastward to 

 the Philippines and southward to Java, and perhaps 

 Christmas Island, also the Australian portion of the 

 Malay Archipelago. 



This bird is said to be rather difficult to secure, from 

 the fact that it affects chiefly the summits of the highest 

 trees. It is sometimes seen in small companies of from 

 twelve to twenty individuals ; it lays a pure white egg. 

 In Borneo it appears to be sometimes called " Burong- 

 rawa," and sometimes " Peagam rawa." 



Captain Wimberlev (quoted bv Hume, " Nests and 

 Eggs," Vol. II., p. 369) says: "I obtained this egg on 

 Trinkut Island (Nicobars) during the first week of 

 February. The nest was built of sticks and twigs, and 

 was very similar to that of our English Wood-Pigeon. 

 There was only one egg in the nest, and it was much 

 addled. The nest was placed in a low mangrove-tree 

 overhanging the river, and the old bird flew off the nest 

 as I drew -near to it, but I failed to shoot it." Mr. 

 Hume says : " The egg is of a longish oval shape, a 

 good deal pointed towards the small end, pure white, 

 and tolerably glossy. It measures 1.78 by 1.25." Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Davison the breeding-season is from 

 -January to March. It usually lays only one egg. 



The Nutmeg Fruit-Pigeon is the only member of the 

 family which I ever had an opportunity of acquiring, 

 and I resisted the temptation without much difficulty. 

 As Dr. Russ tells us. it only comes into the market now 

 and again, having reached the Amsterdam Gardens in 

 1859, those of London in 1867. and those of Berlin in 

 1893. For a pied bird I prefer the small and easily 

 Ttept Tambourine Dove ; mere rarity does not appeal 

 to me much. 



SPOTTED FRUIT-PIGEON (Myristicwwra xpllorrlwa). 



Differs from the preceding in having regular sub- 

 ierminal black spots on some of the flank-feathers 

 covering the thighs, on those of the vent and on the 

 under tail-coverts. The plumage is sometimes more or 

 less tinged with grey. Hab., Australia, Eastern Papuan 

 Islands, Eastern New Guinea, also Western New 

 'Guinea, and Aru Islands. 



According to Gilbert, this pigeon " pairs and com- 

 mences breeding immediately after its arrival in Novem- 

 ber. The nest is formed of a few sticks laid across one 

 another in opposite directions, and is so slight a struc- 



ture that the eggs may usually be seen through the 

 interstices from beneath, and it is so flat that it appears 

 wonderful how the eggs remain upon it when the branch 

 is waving about in the wind ; it is usually built on a 

 horizontal branch of a mangrove, and it would seem that 

 it prefers for this purpose a branch overhanging water. 

 That it never lays more than one egg appears to me 

 without a doubt, for on visiting Tablehead River, on 

 the eastern side of the harbour of Port Essington, I 

 found no less than twenty nests, all of which contained 

 either a single egg or a single young bird." 



Mr. A. J. Campbell describes the egg as " elliptical 

 in shape ; texture of shell somewhat coarse, especially 

 on the smaller end ; surface slightly glossy ; colour, 

 pure white. Dimensions in inches (1) 1.76 bv 1.24, (2) 

 1.7 by 1.18." 



Mr. E. Olive says (The 76?.*, 1900, p. 647) : " Abundant 

 at Cooktown during the winter months ; breeding in 

 enormous multitudes on the outlying islands of the 

 Barrier Reef, some eight or nine miles from the main- 

 land. In the early morning they wend their way to 

 their feeding-grounds in the scrubs, sometimes flying 

 as great a distance as forty miles, and return to roost 

 on the islands at night. They feed principally on a 

 species of nutmeg (Myrlstica inslpida}. of which I have 

 found as many as eight or nine fruits in the crop. Iris 

 dark brown; feet bluish-slate; bill greenish-yellow." 



Miss Rosie Alderson possessed an example of this 

 species supposed at first to be the more frequently im- 

 ported Nutmeg Pigeon. 



WHITE FRUIT-PIGEON (Myristicivora luctuosa). 



Differs from M. bicolor in the black-edged slate-grey 

 colour of all the flight-feathers ; some of the flank- 

 feathers covering the thighs, the feathers of the vent. 

 and the basal under tail-coverts, with large black spots. 

 Hab., Celebes and Sula Islands. 



Dr. Guillemard (" Proceedings of the Zoological 

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

 follows : " Iris dark brown ; bill bluish-green, yellow 

 at the tip ; tarsus bluish-green." 



Doubtless the wild life of this species closely resembles 

 that of the two preceding species. Russ confounds it 

 with M. s/>ilorrhoa, so that his statement that it 

 reached the Amsterdam Zoological Gardens in 1857 may 

 apply either to that or the present species. One speci- 

 men was presented to the London Zoological Society 

 in 1867, and four were purchased in 1870. 



DOUBLE-CRESTED FRUIT-PIGEON 



iiilft/rrfirus). 



General plumage of adult bird, including the frontal 

 crest, grey, darker above than below ; a line of black 

 from each eye to the occiput, which unites posteriorly, 

 and is continued a short way down the back of the 

 neck ; sides of head rust reddish ; feathers of chin 

 elongated ; those of neck and breast hackled ; quills 

 black ; inner secondaries grey ; tail black, grey at base, 

 and crossed by an irregular band of huffish-grey about 

 an inch from its extremity; bill bright rose-red, lilacino 

 at tip, the cere and base of lower mandible greenish- 

 leaden in the male, but lead colour in the female ; feet 

 purplish-red, greyish-brown at the back and on the 

 soles ; iris fiei\y orange, with rosy lashes ; a bare mealy 

 pink patch surrounding eye. Female, in addition to 

 difference already noted, probably smaller and with 

 rather less developed crest. Young with shorter crest, 

 a narrower and less defined band on tail. Hab., 

 Eastern Australia, from Cape York to Tasmania. 



A very gregarious bird, which is often seen passing 

 over the forests and brushes in flocks of manv hundreds 



