TYPICAL PIGEONS. 



261 



grey belt; feathers of back and sides of neck tipped 

 with silvery-grey, those at back of neck glossed with 

 green; breast vinous-red; bill and naked orbital region 

 coral-red, the former with blackish tip ; feet coral-red ; 

 irides straw-yellow. Female distinctly duller than the 

 male, with less prismatic green on back of neck and 

 the abdomen bluer. Hab., Madeira. 



Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant shot eight specimens of this 

 species during a visit which he paid to Madeira in 

 1890 (ride The Ibis, 1890, p. 442). He says it " is still 

 fairly common in the north of the island." 



I have not come across any notes relating to the 

 wild life, but doubtless, like C. laurivora and C. bollii, 

 it lays only one egg. 



Three examples of this species were deposited at the 

 London Zoological Society's Gardens in June and Sep- 

 tember, 1891. 



WHITE-THROATED VIOLET PIGEON (Columba albigularis). 



Blackish slate colour ; feathers of crown, neck, back, 

 rump, and under surface edged with metallic purple 

 varying to green ; edges of upper wing-coverts and 

 longer upper tail-coverts narrower and greener ; flights 

 and tail slaty-black ; cheeks and throat white ; bill red 

 with white tip ; feet dull coral-red, with pale claws ; 

 irides ochreous-orange ; orbits red. Female probably 

 smaller and duller. Hab., " From the Halmahera and 

 Amboyna groups through the Papuan Islands to the 

 Louisiades." (Salvadori.) 



I have found no notes on the wild life of this pigeon ; 

 but Herr A. E. Blaauw, who possessed several ex- 

 amples early in 1880, says that " the behaviour of this 

 pigeon is a very quiet one ; it moves rarely and rather 

 awkwardly on the ground> and is decidedly an arboreal 

 bird. I have never heard it utter a note. It is a pity 

 'that it is so rare, for it is not at all dangerous to other 

 pigeons, or other birds generally, and even sitting 

 quietly is a remarkable ornament in the aviary." 



This species reached the Amsterdam Zoological 

 Gardens, in 1875, and although Russ states that beyond 

 this importation and those possessed by Blaauw, it has 

 certainly not been brought home alive, he overlooks the 

 fact that the London Zoological Society received it in 

 March, 1874, and recorded it in the " List of Animals '' 

 under the name of lanihcenas leucolnema (a species not 

 noted in the " Fremdlandischen Stubenvogel "). In 

 1908 six examples were deposited at our Gardens. 



VINACEOUS PIGEON (Columba plumbect). 



In the adult male the head, neck, and under surface 

 are purplish-vinous ; the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, 

 tail, and upper wing-coverts dark brown, glossed with 

 olive and showing more or less defined purple reflec- 

 tions ; flights having the inner webs sometimes tinged 

 with ruddy-brown ; under wing-coverts deep greyish- 

 vinous ; bill black ; feet dark-red tinged with violet ; 

 iris deep vinous-red. 



The female is duller, less vinous on the under parts, 

 and often with reddish spots on the nape. The young 

 have narrow rufous edges to the feathers of the head, 

 wing-coverts, and under parts. Hab., "Cayenne, 

 British Guiana, Colombia, Ecuador, N. and E. Peru, 

 Bolivia, and Brazil." (Salvadori). 



Burmeister says that this bird was very abundant in 

 New Freiburg when he was there. It is .strictly a wcod 

 pigeon, and rarely leaves the shelter of the woods and 

 dense scrub. Although Buimeister believed the C. 

 v'maeea of Temminck and C. plumbed of Vieillot to be 

 distinct species, Count Salvadori regards them as 

 synonymous. 



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

 Zoological Society," 1879, p. 543) the food of this bird 

 consists of fruit. 



Tschudi says (Vide Taczanoweki, " Ornithologie du 

 Perou," Vol. III., p. 235) that it inhabits the forest 

 region of Eastern Peru. 



Dr. E. A. Goeldi, who obtained examples of this 

 pigeon during an expedition up the Capim River, says 

 (The Ibis, 1903, p. 481) that it is " here called ' Pomba 

 gallega.' ' 



Russ tells us that the chemist Landauer possessed 

 this species alive, and considered it very delicate ; 

 which does not seem very probable. The Zoological 

 Society of London purchased two examples in 1870, one 

 in 1877, and one in 1895 ; but Russ does not refer to 

 any of these. 



MAYER'S PIGEON (Nescenas mayeri). 



Head, neck, mantle, and under surface pale pink, 

 fading to whitish towards the forehead, cheeks, and 

 upper throat, and deepening in tint on the mantle ; 

 remainder of upper back and wings brown, slightly 

 shaded with olive and rufous ; lower back and rump 

 greyish, the latter mottled with chestnut; upper tail- 

 coverts and tail cinnamon, the outer tail feathers 

 fading to buff on outer webs and towards the tips ; 

 under surface of wings ashy-brown, rather paler on 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts ; bill yellow, reddish 

 towards the base ; feet red ; irides yellow. Female not 

 differentiated. Hab., Mauritius. 



I have not come across any field notes relating to 

 this species. Two examples were presented to the 

 London Zoological Society, by Lieutenant-Colonel 

 Neville Manders, in October, 1906, and Mr. T. H. 

 Newman, who very kindly sent me a list of Columbce 

 not included in "How to Sex Cage-Birds," tells me 

 that other specimens have since been added to the 

 collection at Regent's Park. 



This species completes the Columbince (the first sub- 

 family of the Columbidce. We now pass on to the 

 MacropygiincR, which are large pigeons, running to 

 from 14 in. to 17 in. in length. 



NARROW-BARRED PIGEON (Macropygia leptogrammica). 



Back, rump, wings, upper wing- and tail-coverts 

 irregularly barred with black and chestnut ; flights 

 brown ; four central tail feathers barred with black 

 and vinous-chestnut ; third pair of feathers brown, 

 broadly belted with slate-grey about the middle, and 

 narrowly barred with blackish towards tip and at base 

 of outer web ; three outer pairs slate-grey, with a broad 

 black belt ; the outermost with a chestnut spot on 

 inner web; forehead, chin, and throat vinaceous-buff ; 

 crown, back of head, nape, sides of neck, and mantle 

 shining metallic-green, with purple or bronze reflec- 

 tions, the nape sometimes purple, with green reflec- 

 tions ; lower throat and breast greyish- vinous, the 

 former with bronzy reflections ; flanks and axillaries 

 vinous slaty-grey ; abdomen buff, frequently shading 

 into cinnamon-rufous on under tail-coverts ; bill black ; 

 feet ied ; irides very narrow, yellow ; eyelids red. 

 Female much more rufous on under surface; the head, 

 neck, and mantle barred with black and chestnut, like 

 the rest of the upper surface, the head slightly pur- 

 plish ; the feathers of neck, mantle, and breast with 

 transverse golden-brown bars and metallic-green tips, 

 shot with purple. Hab., "Hills of Java and Sumatra 

 up to 7,500 feet, and the Malay Peninsula." (Salva- 

 dori.) 



I have found no field notes relating to this pigeon ; 

 but Jerdon says of its larger and rather more brightly- 



