262 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



coloured Indian representative (" Birds of India," 

 Vol. III., p. 474) that it "is found singly, occasionally 

 in small parties ; feeds on various fruits, which it 

 chiefly takes from the trees, now and then descending 

 to the ground. Its voice is a deep, repeated coo. I 

 found its nest on the Khasia Hills at about 4,500 feet 

 on trees, at a moderate elevation." 



Russ evidently regards this and the Indian M. 

 tt/.<//li(i^as one species, and he considers it of no interest 

 for aviculture, because, he says, it has only existed in 

 the London Zoological Gardens, where, however, one 

 example was exhibited in 1876 and two in 1892, but 

 under the incorrect locality of " Celebes" ! 



EMILIAX PIGEON (Mocropygia cnti/inna). 

 _ Back, rump, wings, and tail deep chestnut, faintly 

 tinged with purplish ; flights brown, their inner webs 

 broadly cinnamon; tail conspicuously rufescent, the 

 three outer pairs of feathers (bright rufous, with a broad 

 bla-ck belt extending toward.? the base of the inner web ; 

 head, neck, and under surface cinnamon-rufous; the 

 hind neck and upper mantle with a lilacine lustre, 

 the latter finely freckled with brown ; bill horny or flesh- 

 coloured ; feet red or purplish ; irides pearly, or red 

 with a yellow inner ring. Female without lilacine 

 lustre on upper surface, and more or less barred, espe- 

 y on the nape and mantle, which arc bright cinna- 

 mon ; below cinnamon with transverse dusky bars on 

 the lower throat and breast according to a specimen 

 . by Wallace. I found the following differences in 

 undoubted females: The mantle crossed by clusky- 

 bordered cinnamon bars: throat paler: breast broader, 

 with dusky margins to the feathers in front. Hah., 

 Java, Lombock, and X. Borneo. 



According to Mr. J. Whitehead (Tli<> Un.<. 1898. 

 p. 233), this species nests in open localities in dead 

 bracken only a foot or two above the ground, its 

 plumage assimilating perfectly with the dead' fern. 



.An example of this pigeon was purchased by the 

 London Zoological Society in 1866. 



PlIKASANT-TAILED PlGEON (Marro^l/t/ia ,,/KKirt ndlfl). 



('hermit-brown ; flights brown; tail reddish-brown 

 the three outer feathers brighter reddish, especially on 

 the inner webs, the outermost also on the outer web ; 

 all three with a broad black belt extending towards 

 Of inner web: forehead and throat paler die-Unit 

 ol head and hind neck metallic lilac.' ne ahot with 

 green ; lower throat tinged with vinaceous and nar- 

 rowly barred with blackish; under wing-coverte axil- 

 larivs. and inner margins of primaries reddish-cinna- 

 mon ; hill dark olive-brown, mealy at base; feet 

 pinkish-red ; irides blue with an outer circle of scarlet ; 

 orbits mealy bluish-lilac. Female chestnut-brown, the 

 upper part of head much redder, a,< well as the edo-es 

 of the upper wing-covert* ; sides of head and neck 

 rufous barred with brown : under surface finely freckled 

 with dark brown. Hah., "Australia, from Cape York 

 to Victoria and S. Australia." (Salvadori.) 

 (( Gould say* (" Handlbook," Vol. II.. pp. 143, 149) : 



I he Anterior of the dense brushes are the favourite 

 haunts of this bird, but it occasionally resorts to the 

 crowns of the low hills and the, open glades of the forest 

 where it searches for its food on the ground ; on bein<^ 

 disturbed it flies to the branches of the nearest tree 

 spreading out ii,^ bnttd tail at the moment of alighting! 

 From Illawarra to Moreton Bay it ie a common and 

 stationary species. It is a fine,' showy bird in a state 

 of nature, and exhibits itself to great advantage when 

 n PISOB from the ground to the trees. While traversing 

 the brushes I frequentlv saw this bird busily enlaced 

 eearchmg on the ground for fallen seeds and berries. 

 -Harely were more than four or five seen at one time, 



and mc-ist frequently it occurred singly or in pairs." 

 " As its lengthened tarsi would lead us to imagine, it 

 spends much of its time on the ground; and when 

 Unshed in the depths of the forest it merely flies to 

 the branch of some low tree, and there remains with 

 little appearance of fear. 



" Its note is loud, mournful, and monotonous.'' 



A. J. Campbell (" Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," 

 p. 674) say<s : " tfest.- -A primitive structure, being, 

 simply a few sticks placed cress wise, without any 

 cavity, and barelv sufficient to retain the egg in position. 

 (North.) 



" A nest found in the Richmond River district was 

 large for that of a pigeon, ibeing 6 inches across, with a 

 cavity about 1 inch deep, while the whole was 9 inches 

 in depth ; but the foundation tapered to a point, making 

 the (structure appear like an inverted triangle, which 

 was inserted in the topmost forked branches of a 

 buoyong (Tu rr'nt'tn) sapling, at a height of about 

 30 feet from the ground. 



" AV/f/.s. Clutch, one to two; elliptical in shape, 

 sharply nipped oft at one end ; texture cf shell fine and 

 brittle ; surface glos-sy ; colour white, with a faint 

 creamv tone. Dimensions in inchrs of single example,* 

 (1) 1.36 x -96- (2) 1.33 x -96, (3) 1.38 x .97." 



Mr. Campbell says that this t-pocies feeds on the 1 

 berries of the common ink-weed, and that the nest is 

 : hues placed in the centre of a bird's nest fern 

 <T t he crown of a fern-tree. 



The London Zoological Society purchased two 

 examples of this pigeon in 1874 ; the Amsterdam 

 Gardens possessed ii as early ;\-~ 1856. 



DOP.KY CUCKOO-PIGEON (M.ar ro [il/i/m f/nfi'i/u). 



Above chestnut-brown ; nape and upper mantle bright 

 metallic green, more or less shot with purple; three 

 outer tail-feathers cinnamon with a sub-terminal 

 blackish band ; head vinous, crown and back of head 

 somewhat greyish ; front of head and throat pale rufous ; 

 breast rich vinaceous shot with purple, with two 

 blackish bars across each feather, shading iaito tawny 

 bulf on the abdomen and deepening to cinnamon on the 

 vent and under tail-co\erts : under wing-coverte, axil- 

 la ries and tibial feathers chestnut'; bill dark; feet red. 

 Female above chestnut-brown, the feathers being brown. 

 tipped with chestnut, broadly on the wing-coverts ; napa 

 and mantle paler, barred with dark metallic green and 

 rufous; head reddish chestnut; under surface rufous 

 very faintly barred and freckled, especially on the 

 breast, .deepening to cinnamon on the flanks, vent, and 

 under tail-coverts. Hab., "New Guinea, \\ith the sur- 

 soundiug North-western Islands \Vaigiou, Guebeh. 

 liatanta. Sala wal ty. Mysol, Mysr;ri. and .lobi. and also 

 Aru Islands." (Salvadori.) 



I have found no notes respecting the wild life of this 

 species'. Three examples reached the Lon-'on '/. 

 gical Gardens in Julv. 1908. 



The sub-family E<-h>/i'ixtin contains only a single 

 species. 



PASSENGER PIGEON {/'Jrf<>j,i.-<fr.-i 



I'pper surface bluish-grey, paler on the rum]); back 

 and sides of neck metallic golden and lilacine violaceous ; 

 scapulars, tertials, and median wing-coverts with about 

 twenty-live velvety black spots; flights brownish-black 

 edged with greyish ; the inner primaries grey at the 

 base of outer web ; central tail-feathers dark grey, the 

 others pearl grey, with a patch of cinnamon followed by 

 a black spot at base of inner web. their extremities 

 nearly white; thin whitish-grey; throat and breast 

 cinnamon-reddish, changing to pale vinous on sides and 

 abdomen ; flanks pale grey ; vent and under tail-cov-erts. 



