TYPICAL PIGEONS. 



259 



Difficult as it would seem to be to obtain this pigeon, 

 it has been exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens. 

 Russ. however, does not mention it in his " Fremd- 

 landischen Stubenvogel." 



BANDED PIGEON (Columba fasciata). 



Upper surface grey, brownish on the upper back and 

 lesser wing-coverts, otherwise bluish ; nights brown, 

 with narrow whitish margins ; the greater upper wing- 

 coverts also with whitish outer margins ; tail above 

 grey at base, crossed at the middle by a narrow black 

 band and powdery whitish-grey at extremity ; a narrow 

 white half-collar on the nape ; hind neck metallic 

 golden green ; head, sides of neck, throat, and breast 

 purplish- violet ; sides pale grey ; middle of abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts white ; tail below paler than 

 .above ; bill yellow with black tip ; feet yellow ; irides 

 carmine, edged with gold. Female smaller and duller, 

 the head and under surface redder, less vinous. Hab., 

 Western United States, from Washington Territory and 

 New Mexico southward to Guatemala and Nicaragua. 



I quote the following from Major Bendire's " Life 

 Histories of North American Birds," Vol. I., p. 123: 

 " Mr. 0. B. Johnson, in his ' List of the Birds of the 

 Willamette Valley, Oregon,' states : ' An abundant 

 summer resident, feeding chiefly on berries. They nest 

 in various situations, much like the common Dove, Z. 

 carolinensis. I found one of leaves and moss beside a 

 tree, placed on the ground between two roots ; another 

 one upon an old stump that had been split and broken 

 about 8 ft. from the ground. Another was in the top 

 of a fir (A. grandis), and was built of twigs laid upon, 

 the dense, flat limb of the tree, about 180 ft. from the 

 ground. These each had two eggs, pure white, and 

 elliptical, differing from those of Z. c&rolinensis only 

 in size, a set before me measuring 1.60 by 1.20, and 

 1.55 by 1.19 inches.' " 



According to Mr. Poling, quoted by the same author, 

 this species appears to nest at all seasons, to sit very 

 closely, and even, when disturbed, to carry off the egg 

 from the nest (sometimes only one egg is deposited) 

 in the feathers of the belly, in which position it is held 

 by the legs. This seems a very extraordinary proceed- 

 ing, but it is based upon several observations made by 

 Mr. Poling. 



Major Bendire says (p. 127) : " The egg of the Band- 

 tailed Pigeon is large tor the size of the bird, and is 

 somewhat peculiar in shape. This may be called a 

 pointed elliptical ovate. All the eggs I have seen show 

 this feature. They are pure white in colour, the shell 

 is close grained, smooth, and slightly glcssy." 



I have included this species in " How to Sex Cage- 

 Birds," and therefore must have had some evidence of 

 its importation, but when it came to hand or who 

 received it I cannot now discover, having omitted to 

 note the facts (as I usually do) in my copy of the 

 " Catalogue of Birds." 



WHITE NAPED PIGEON (Columba albilinea}. 



Back and wings slate-coloured, slightly glossed with 

 olive-green ; rump and upper tail-coverts bluer and 

 paler ; flights brownish-black, the outer primaries with 

 narrow, whitish edges ; tail slate-grey at base ; with 

 an indistinct blackish band across the middle, terminal 

 extremity dull grey ; hind neck dark metallic green 

 shot with gold ; crown deep vinaceous purple ; a 

 whitish band on the nape ; throat slate-grey ; rest of 

 under-surface purplish-vinaceous, with the sides, under 

 win,g-co verts and under tail-coverts leaden grey, the 

 last-mentioned washed with vinous ; tail below paler 

 than above ; bill and feet yellow ; irides red with an 



inner whitish ring. Female probably duller than the 

 male. Hab., " Columbia, British Guiana, Ecuador, 

 Peru, and Bolivia." (Salvadori.) 



According to T. K. Salmon (" Proceedings of the Zoo- 

 logical Society," 1879, p. 543). this species " makes a 

 nest of sticks and twigs in high underwood in forest." 



Taczanowski (" Ornithologie du Perou," Vol. III., 

 p. 233) says : " The egg, received from Chirimoto, in 

 February, shows the following dimensions : 39.3 milli- 

 metres in lengtn 'by 29 in diameter." He quotes the 

 following note by Stolzmann : " This pigeon is distri- 

 buted in the sierra of northern Peru between the limits 

 of 5,000 and 10,000 feet. It is not rare at Cuteroo and 

 at Huayaibamba, in the thickets near to the cultivated 

 fields or the young forest. I have often eaten the flesh 

 of this species, but it has an unpleasant taste, and is of 

 a dark brownish violet colour. It is known by the 

 name panicunga (pano = cravat in Spanish, cunga = 

 neck, in Quichua), taken from the white band resemb- 

 ling a cravat," and the following by Jelsky : " During a 

 certain time this pigeon sustains itself on the sesds of 

 a certain bush of Solanum, at other seasons of different 

 fruits of trees and shrubs. It allows itself to be ap- 

 proached easily when it is not disburbed, but it becomes 

 wild at the first shot of a gun, and is always ready to 

 profit by a lesson. They perch in company on dry 

 trees, sleep towards noon, some of them so soundly that 

 they are none the wiser, or at any rate pay no atten- 

 tion to the sound produced by the hunter approaching 

 through the bushes. Usually they do not all fly off 

 together ; some wait a considerable time, the others go 

 from the opposite side." 



A specimen of this pretty pigeon was purchased by 

 the London Zoological Society in 1851. 



ABATTCANIAN PIGEON (Columba araucana). 



Upper back and scapulars vinaceous-chestnut ; lower 

 back, rump, and basal upper tail-coverts leaden-grey, 

 longer tail-coverts brownish-grey ; upper wing-coverts 

 greyieh-brown, paler on the outer and greater ones ; 

 flights brownish-black, with narrow whitish edges ; tail 

 above dull grey, with a subterminal black band ; a 

 whitish band on the nape ; hind neck metallic bronze- 

 green ; head and under surface vinaceous chestnut, 

 washed with lilacine on the breast ; under tail-coverts 

 leaden-grey, with a purplish or rufous tinge ; under 

 wing-coverts and sides leaden-grey ; bill black ; feet 

 rose-red ; irides reddish-yellow. Female smaller, the 

 bill more slender when seen in profile. Hab., Chili and 

 Straits of Magellan. 



This species is said to be extremely abundant on the 

 wooded banks of rivers in Chili. Mr. Ambrose A. Lane 

 savs (The 76i.s, 1897, p. 297) : "I did not see much of 

 this species in Central Chili, though I observed it once in 

 a wooded and secluded glade on the hills near Hospital, 

 where I was told a pair nested. The birds were said 

 to come in flocks there in the cold season. In the 

 south I found them plentiful, especially about Valdivia 

 and Rio Bueno. In Arauco they are fairly numerous, 

 but not so much so as in the former places. They 

 probably extend far south. 



" These Pigeons nest at Rio Bueno about December. 

 The nest is a loose structure of sticks, lite that of the 

 Queee.t ; and one I got was in the fork of a tree about 

 15 feet high. Their cooing was a deep booming sound. 



" They are generallv known as the ' Torcaza.' 



" The iris of this Pigeon is a double ring, the outer 

 section being cadmium-yellow, and the inner orpiment- 

 orange. The bare skin 'round the eye is Indian purple, 

 marked with a delicate network of pomegranate-purple. 

 The tarsi and feet are of a brilliant poppy-red, the bill 

 and claws black." 



In spite of the abundance of this species in the south 



