TYPICAL PIGEONS. 



257 



never visiting the earth ; this, however, I should regard 

 as rather an extreme statement. The same author, 

 after observing that it is " almost wholly confined to 

 the high forest," continues : "Although in the month 

 of September, if certain berries are ripe, it may also 

 be found upon open places in the vicinity of the 

 forest."* It is inconceivable that any number of 

 pigeons in a clearing would never alight on the earth. 



Mr. M. J. Nioo.ll says (The Ibis, 1904, p. 566) : 

 " This fine Pigeon is abundant in the high woods of 

 Grenada. I obtained three examples at Grand Etang. 

 They feed on the Targe date-shaped seeds of a palm. 

 They a>re exceedingly wary. I was told that during the 

 eruption of the Soufriere at St. Vincent, enormous flocks 

 of these- Pigeons arrived at Grenada and stopped for 

 some weeks, and then disappeared. The note of this 

 species is a harsh 'coo.' " 



Two examples of this tspecies were purchased by the 

 London Zoological Society in 1868 ; four were deposited 

 at the Gardens m 1870, six were purchased in 1873, 

 and one in 1875 ; in the two* succeeding years it was 

 bred at the Gardens; subsequently other specimens 

 were presented and purchased, and in 1886 it was again 

 bred. According to HUBS it is rare in the German 

 market. 



SPECIOUS PIGEON (Columba speciosa). 



Back, rump, and lesser upper wing-coverts maroon 

 tinged with purple ; neck-feathers with regular dark 

 metallic green borders, more or less shot with violet ; 

 those of the uipper part with sub-terminal white spots, 

 but the feathers of the lower neck without spots and 

 chestnut in the middle ; nights brown, the primaries 

 with narrow paler margins ; longer upper tail-coverts 

 brown ; tail brownish-black ; head vinous chestnut ; 

 breast dull vmaceous with darker edges to the feathers ; 

 middle of abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts 

 white, with dusky edges to the feathers; under wing- 

 coverts greyish-brown, with a more or less vinous tinge ; 

 bill and feet yellowish ; irides dark brown. Female 

 duliler in colouring, the maroon of the upper parts re- 

 placed by brown. Hab., " Mexico and through Central 

 America to Colombia, Guiana, Brazil, and Peru" 

 (Salvadori). 



Mr. W. A. Forbas speaks of this a,s one of the- species 

 which abounds in the forests of North-Eastern Brazil 

 when the fruits are ripe; their native name is 

 "Gallegas" (cf. The lUs, 1881, p. 318). 



The first example of this piigeon exhibited at Regent's 

 Park was purchased in 1868, a second wa,s added in 

 1871, and five others in 1876 ; others have been purchased 

 subsequently. The Amsterdam Gardens secured it ini 

 1885 ; but, according to Hues (1889) hitherto these are 

 the only Zoological Gardens which have possessed it. 



CUBAN PIGEON (Columba inornata). 

 Upper back, scapulars, lesser and greater wing-coverts 

 and inner secondaries brownish-grey ; median coverts 

 washed with chestnut ; anterior and greater coverts with 

 well-defined white borders ; primaries greyish-brown, 

 with narrow pale edges to outer webs; lower back, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts leaden grey; tail dark 

 leaden-grey, rounded; head, neck, .and under surface 

 vinaceous purple, 'the chin more or lees whitish ; sides, 

 under surface of wings, and under tail-coverts leaden 

 grey; bill black or horn- coloured; feet carmine-red; 

 irides with a leaden grey inner ring, a brownish central 



* I quote this from Ruse, so that the actual word, thoug-h 

 not fhe seree, may differ slightly from the original. 



ring, and an ochre-yellow outer ring ; edges of eyelids 

 and naked orbital skin carmine-red. Female rather 

 smaller and duller. Hab., Greater Antilles. 



Gundlach found the nest of this pigeon in May. As 

 usual it was built in a tree, constructed of twigs, and 

 contained two white eggs. 



In his "Field Notes on the Birds of San Domingo" 

 (The Ibis, 1897, pp. 336, 337), Dr. C. Christy says : 

 " At the head of Samana Bay there are well-recognised 

 Pigeon months, June, July and August, and during 

 these months the natives make almost daily excursions 

 from Sanchez to the mangrove-swamps, where the 

 Pigeons are in tens of thousands. They load and fire 

 as fast as their antiquated muzzle-loading appliances 

 will permit, and come home sometimes with their boat 

 literally laden with Pigeons, which they sell for 10 cents. 

 per couple. These are delicious eating at this seaeon if 

 properly cooked. 



"I made several excursions into the swamp after 

 Pigeons, and one day, June 25, I shot as> many as 120, 

 mositly on the wing, in about three hour. It is only 

 necessary to put on a pair of waders or top-boots and 

 take one's stand in the best open *pace one can find 

 among the tallest mangrove tree. After a dozen or so 

 have fallen, some shot as they fly over and others as 

 they settle for a moment on the tops of the trees, the 

 most difficult work of the day begins, that of wading 

 round to lock for them. Unless a native is employed 

 to retrieve them, one has to olimb through the neitwork 

 of wet and slippery aerial mangrove-roote, sometimes 

 sinking into the black mud and water up to one's middle, 

 while legions of small crabs, and some big ones with 

 legs a foot long, recede and disappear behind each root 

 or up each stem as one approaches, to say nothing of the 

 clouds of sandflies and mosquitoes. 



" When all that can be found are picked' up, omo 

 reit/urns to one's post, and the shooting goes on once 

 more, till sufficient are shot again to make it worth 

 while to collect them." 



Two specimen of this species were purchased for the 

 London Zoological Gardens in 1868, but it is probable 

 thcub its very abundance is the cause of its rarity in the 

 market, it 'oeing thought that so common a bird is 

 hardly worth the trouble of capturing. 



Gosise, who confounded this with the next species, 

 t-iays ("Birds of Jamaica," pp. 296-298) :" The Blue 

 Piigeon is found both on the mountains and in the low- 

 lands. On the former it seems less to affect the deep 

 forest than such woods as skirt cultivated ground. 

 When the purple berries of the phytolacca are ripe, 

 about the end of the year, these pigeons flock in con- 

 siderable numbers to feed at dawn and at evening. 

 About the same time they are numerous in the lowlands, 

 for I have found them plentiful in the large morass 

 that extends along the shore from Crabpond to Parker's 

 Bay. They were flying about in pairs for the most 

 part among the black mangrove trees, on whose seeds 

 they were probably feeding. But I found in the 

 stomachs of those which I shot the white blossoms of 

 a species of mistletoe which is abundant there, and 

 in one the ibean-like seeds o, as I believe, the madjo- 

 bitter (Picramnia). Early in February I visited the 

 mangrove woods of Mount Edgecumbe morass to seek 

 these birds-. They were rather numerous, but alighted 

 only on the summits of the tallest trees. Finding that 

 they were very shy, I seated myself, and remained 

 quietly watching. Thus I obtained several successive 

 shots, as they appeared to come round to the spot 

 periodically, perhaps once in half an hour. Two or 

 three were in company, and as they flew from tree-top 

 to tree-top their movements were announced by a 



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