LITTLE DODOS. 



303 



nests. They were perfectly tame at first, and fed upon 

 .the ground just like other Doves. Though silent birds 

 as individuals, yet from their immense number their 

 occasional croak, croak 'blended into a continuous mur- 

 mur heard distinctly above the grinding surf. 



" ' Hundreds mignt easily have been shot. As it was, 

 .the whole party, native and European, were loaded ; 

 and, despite unavoidable losses at the time of re- 

 em'barking, some seventy were safely brought on board.' 



" Mr. Davison, who was one of the party, and 

 .zealously climbed numbers of the trees to scrutinise the 

 nests more closely, has remarked : ' Calcenas nicobarica 

 .builds a regular pigeon's nest, and always on trees ; on 

 Batty Malve, where we found this bird in thousands, 

 .almost every thick, bushy tree contained several nests. 

 I counted thirteen on one tree, and I must have ex- 

 amined a couple of dozen of these nests. We visited 

 the island rather late. Nearly all the occupied nests 

 contained young, and hundreds of young had left the 

 nest. I only succeeded in finding two eggs one par- 

 tially incubated, the other ready to hatch off the former 

 of tihese unfortunately got broken on the island, the 

 latter I succeeded in preserving by cutting a hole in one 

 side, and then placing the egg in a small paper tray <near 

 an ants' nest. The nests were, as I have mentioned 

 above, regular Pigeons' nests merely a platform of 

 twigs, very loosely and carelessly iput together, and 

 without lining of any kind, and in no single case con- 

 tained more than one young one or one egg ; so I 

 think we may safely assert that the normal number of 

 eggs laid by this bird is only one." 



Mr. Hume describes the egg as follows: "The egg 

 is, of course, spotless and pure white, but the shell, 

 though compact, is very finely, almosi microscopically, 

 pitted all over, and it has scarcely a trace of any gloss. 

 It measures 1.84 by 1.27." 



The London Zoological Society first acquired this 

 species in 1864, when six specimens were presented ; it 

 was bred in the Gardens in July, 1865, May and July, 

 1866, July and August, 1868, and June, 1870 ; it 'bred 

 again in September, 1889. It has also been bred freely 

 by Mr. Meade Waldo. I purchased a pair on July 5th, 

 1897, and placed them in my outdoor aviary, (where they 

 .at out under the open wire netting summer and 

 winter, only flying down under cover to feed. In severe 

 weather the snow piled up on their backs as they 

 roosted, and they took no notice. I never heard them 

 utter a note beyond a gruff sort of grunt, like the surly 

 *' wuff " of a large dog when irritated. 



Beautiful as the Nicobar Pigeon is in colour, it is 

 hardly graceful either in form or action ; it is also an 

 arrant coward and bully ; my birds were so nervous 

 when I first received them that wlhen I entered the 

 .aviary they flew about recklessly, not looking to see 

 where they were going ; the cock bird one day broke a 

 wing in its frantic efforts to get away from, me, and 

 had perforce to sit quietly on a box lor a fortnight 

 before he could use the wing again. I think this some- 

 what sobered him, but he continued nervous and ex- 

 citaJble for some time. He took no notice of his hen 

 at any time, excepting to peck her and utter an angry 

 grunt if she settled on the branch, near him. 



Eventually I brought these birds indoors, and placed 

 them in one of the smaller of my covered aviaries, 

 giving them the top of a hamper supported high up in 

 a corner to induce them to breed, but they never made 

 tihe slightest attempt to reproduce their kind. The 

 female died on Jan. 18, 1902, and the male, I think, 

 about two years later. The taxidermist omitted to 

 insert the date on its label. 



The Nicobar Pigeon is an exceedingly handsome bird 

 as regards colouring, but it is so apathetic that one 



soon wearies of it ; moreover, to see it to perfection a 

 very large aviary is required. 



I agree with Dr. Ru=s that the Gouridce are altogether 

 too large to be suitable either for the bird-rcom or 

 aviary ; in fact, a Pigeon the size of a Turkey is, as 

 he states, only fit for Zoological Gardens or Parks. I 

 therefore shall follow his excellent- example, and not 

 include the Crown-Pigeons in the present work. Three 

 species have been represented at the London Gardens 

 Goura coronata, G. sclateri, and G. victoria; they are 

 most majestic birds. 



LITTLE DODOS (DiduncuWce.) 



Characterised by a hooked bill, the lower mandible 

 seriated near the tip, which is truncated, the nostrils 

 Oblique ; the front of the tarsus very imperfectly scaled. 

 The family consists of one species occurring on the 

 Samoan Islands. In captivity it would probably be most 

 suitably fed upon banana, potaito, apples, etc. It will 

 however, also eat bread, almonds, hemp-seed, etc. 



TOOTH-BILLED PIGEON (Didunculus strigirostris). 



Head, neck, and mantle metallic blackish-green, the 

 feathers of the two lasib somewhat greyish on the edges ; 

 back, rump, upper tail-coveirts, wings, and tail chest- 

 nut ; base of tail-tfeathers blackiish-lbrown, especially on 

 the inner wclbs ; flights above, excepting the inner 

 secondaries, brown ; chin, throat, and upper breast 

 metal. ic blackish-green ; lower breast and abdomen 

 brownish -Iblack ; under tail-coverts brownMi-dhestinut ; 

 nights below greyish -brown ; under wing-coverts 

 brown ; bill orange ; base of under mandible cinnamon- 

 red ; feet oohreous red ; naked orbital sikin fleshy-red ; 

 irides Iturown. Female not diffefrerutiated. Young brown, 

 with orescentic rufous bands on featlhers of upper parts 

 and breast. Hab., Upolu, Savai, and Tutuila. 



According to Russ, this Pigeon has the power of 

 moving the upper mandible like the Parrots. In 1865 

 Professor Newton exhibited an egg of the Tooth -(billed 

 Pigeon ait a meeting of the Zoological Society, and the 

 same year the second volume of Gould's " Handbook to 

 the Birds of Australia " appeared, in the Appendix to 

 which, pp. 557-560, a full account of this singular pigeon 

 is published. From this I cull the following : " It is 

 named by the natives 'Manu-mea,' or Red-bird, from 

 the most predominant colour of its plumage being 

 chocolate-red. It was formerly numerous, and we may 

 therefore be surprised that it should not have been 

 seen and procured by the early navigators ; now it is 

 nearly extinct. It feeds on plantains, and is partial to 

 the fruit of the ' Soi,' a species of Dioscorea, or yam, a 

 twining plant abundant in the islands, and producing a 

 fruit resembling a small potato. In disposition it is 

 exceedingly shy and timid. Like the Ground-Pigeons, 

 it roosts on bushes or stumps of trees, and feeds on the 

 ground. It also builds its nest in such situations. 

 During the breeding season both parents aid in the duty 

 of incubation, relieve each other with great regularity, 

 and are so intent on the performance of their duty that, 

 when sitting on their eggs, they may be easily captured 

 by the hand. Two living birds rwere obtained in this 

 way by Mr. Stair. They are also taken by the natives, 

 with birdlime or springes, and shot with arrows, the 

 sportsman concealing himself near an open space in 

 which a quantity of the ' soi,' their favourite food, has 

 been placed. 



" The first living bird obtained was accidentally 

 killed ; the second, when placed in confinement, at first 

 was sullen and refused food, but soon became reconciled 

 to captivity and throve well. The natives fed it upon 



