298 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



coverts beimg also of this colour ; tail below ash-grey ; 

 feet dull crimson ; bill black ; iris plum -coloured. 



The hen is .slightly smaller than the cock, has the 

 forehead Jess inclined to white, and the crimson heart on 

 the breast smaller.* Haftx. Lu/on, Philippine Islands. 

 I purchased a pair of this bird on August lOtih, 1897, 

 and turned them out into my longest covered aviary 

 with numerous small Fiinohes, Waybills, a.nd '.several 

 tiny Doves. Dr. Russ. says that this species ,is malicious 

 towards its <.>wn kind and all smaller .feathered things 

 a gross libel upon this (beautiful bird, for the only 

 thing it ever attacked in my aviary was a hen Steel- 

 barred Dove (Columbula //'n-ui}, which, having had its 

 wing broken when on : g-:n>:dly captured, new heavily. 

 When (pairing, it would indeed dhase other small doves 

 off the floor, but it never attacked them on the 

 branches, and Finiches it utterly ignored. After the 

 dealt h of its hen, on Octdber 113-th. 1899, it frequently 

 squatted down on the earth in the sun with a hen 

 Chinese Quail sitting almost under its wing. 



When S!K, \vinr off to the hen the Bleeding-heart, 

 suddenly Ntcrps in its race after her. throws (back jits 

 "head, puffs out its ohest, droops tail and wings, and 

 gives utterance to a numiber of staccato h<n>* rapidity 

 repeated. At times, when the hen persikstenitily evaded 

 the ccck, he used to Icse his temper, and, like some 

 other Dove-, clapped Irs wings above his iback, pro- 

 ducing a sharp sound like the crack of a whip; this 

 always seemed to alarm the hen,. 



I hung up a basketed high in the aviary, hoping that 

 my birds would treed they used often to roost there 

 at ndglht ; but. although pairing occasionally took place, 

 no eggs were dt.po'sited. 



During the day. this and cither species of I'fifot/n na-< 

 spend most of their time on the iground, racing to and 

 fro with bdHbiaz head, ibut ait night the Meed ing -.heart. 

 Pigeon roosts as high up as it ca.n get, and before 

 settling down it keeps flying (backwards and forwards 

 between the earth and a branch, until it cs weary. 

 Like most snecies of Doves, it is nnich alarmed iby any 

 form cf ladies' head-gear, and rattles tempestuously 

 al'jout the aviary, to the igreat terror of the smaller 

 inhabitants. The cock bird died iin December, 19CO, 

 and I have never purchased others. It first reached the 

 Regent's Park Gardens in 1861, a.nd many others have 

 been purchased, received in exchange, or presented since 

 that date. In 1887 'five examples were bred in the 

 Gardens. 



In 7' fir Avicultural Magazine, iSeccnd Series. Vol. I., 

 pp. 132, 133, Miss Aldersion ipulblished some notes en 

 specimens in her collection, and published an illustra- 

 tion of young in the nest, fine successfully reared three 

 out of many that were hatched. This lady kindly sent 

 me the bodv of one dead young one for mv collection. 

 It has the usual r.ya.r.red character of many of the Doves. 



BARTLETT'S PIGKON (Phlogwua* crinigera). 

 He i ad, back and sides of neck, and mantle dark 

 metallic green, 'shading into purplistn-chesitnut on the 

 back, scapulars, rump, and upiper tail -coverts, the 

 feathers of the latter more or less edged with green or 

 pink : lesser upper wing-coverts grey edged with 

 bronze -ureen ; the resit of the upper coverts Ibrcwnish- 

 cheetnut broadly tipiped with, >grey. excepting on the 

 median coverts, where the tips only show small grey 

 spots ; primaries ibrorwn, secondaries chestnut ; central 

 tail-feathers 'brownish -chestnut, lateral feathers grey, 

 with sub-terminal Wack belt ; throat snow-white ; a 



* Miss AMersora says that the crimsou on the breast -varies 

 in extent in indivudu.als apart from sex. nncl this doubtless K- 

 so, but, tnkm? one with another, I believe there is always less 

 of it in the females. 



broad patch of eltiff, hair-like, deep red feathers on the 

 upper breast; rest of under -surface bufiMHbrcwn, be- 

 coming paler on under tail-coverts a.nd almost white 

 on middle of abdomen ; bill black ; feet dull carmine ; 

 irides lilac. Female smaller ; crown of the head duller 

 and darker; bill more slender when viewed in profile. 

 Hah., Mindanao, Basilan (and Sulu Island?). 



Very little is recorded respecting the wild life, but. 

 Mr. (rocd'fellcw writes to Mr. Newman that they "are 

 by no means common in their own country, and are 

 very locally distributed around the somewhat drier 

 parts lotf the ooastt lands." "They are forest birds, but 

 do not perch in the trees." Mr. Newman adds : "They 

 doubtless roosit and nest in bushes and low trees at no 

 great distance from the ground." 



Four examples of this very beauitiiful Bleeding-heart, 

 Pigeon were purchased for the London Zoological 

 Society in 1863, and in 1864, 1865. and 1867 young- 

 iwere Ibred in the Gardens. Dr. Sc later describes the- 

 nidiification as .follows ("Proceedings of the Zool<;_ 

 Society." 1865, p. 239): "As I have already stated, 

 four specimens of this beautiful .pigeon were pur-chased 

 by Mr. Bartlett at Liverpool, in August, 1863. In the 

 following spring the single male paired with one of the 

 three females, and bred five times during the summer- 

 of 1864. The 't'ema.le deposited only one eag on each: 

 occasion, making a very slight nest of small sticks in 

 a flat basket placed 8 ft. aibove the ground in the 

 Western Aviary. The period of incubation was fifteen 

 days. Tiwo of the young birds were successfully reared, 

 and are now in adult plumage ; two others died im- 

 mature, and are now in the British Museum. On the- 

 remaining occasion the egg was addled." 



In 1907 Mr. T. H. Newman purchased a pair (im- 

 ported by Mr. W. Goodfellow) from Mrs. Johnston,. 

 and successfully bred a young one. Unhappily, he sub- 

 sequently lost the entire family. He gives a very com- 

 plete and fully-illustrated account cf the e,pecies in- 

 The Avicultural Magazine, Second Series, Vol. VH.,. 

 pp. 225-235. 



STAIR'S GROUND-PIGEON (Phlog&nas stairi). 



Glossy brown, shot with bronze and purple; back 

 of head and neck dark slate-coloured, shot with green ; 

 back and wings shot with magenta; lesser upper wing- 

 coverts edged with purple ; flights and tail feathers 

 brown, the laterals deep vinous-grey at base ; forehead, 

 sides of head and neck, and breast vinaeeous -rufous,, 

 becoming white on the throat and round the breast ; the 

 breast bounded behind by a deep maroon band ; feathers 

 at sides of breast edged" with -purple ; middle of abdo- 

 men vinaeeous brown; sides, vent, and under tajl-coverts 

 coffee-brown ; under wing-coverts and base of inner 

 webs of flights cinnamon ; bill black ; feet deep crimson ; 

 irides reddish-brown. Female smaller, with a shorter 

 bill ; the forehead and breast wholly dull pale chocolate ; 

 back of crown darker; back and wings washed with 

 olive; abdoman brownish-a.sh, with no* defined broad 

 dark maroon band between it and the breast ; tail paler 

 than in the male, the lateral feathers redder and with 

 a subterminal brown bar. Hab., Fiji and Tonga, Islands. 



Mr.E. L. Layard says ("Proceedings of the Zoologicat 

 Society," 1875, p. 438): "Unlike any other Pigeon of 

 these islands, it seeks its food entirely on the ground. 

 Here it runs as quickly a.s a Quail, springs to its wings 

 on the least alarm, and glides through the underwood to- 

 a place of safety with the rapidity of lightning. 



" Mr. Kleinschmidt has kept it in captivity for a 

 long period ; but it is so timid that on the approach 

 of anyone to its large cage it instantly runs into a 

 corner and crouches down, just as a Quail or other game- 



