CROWNED PIGEONS. 233 



some degree of interest, in examining the body, 

 to ascertain the cause of so sudden a mortality ; 

 fearing that the other birds might be affected in 

 a similar manner, and thus all my hopes of tak- 

 ing them to England in a living state would be 

 frustrated. 



On taking the dead bird from the cage, a 

 quantity of gruelly liquid was discharged gradu- 

 ally from the bill : there were no external ap- 

 pearances to account for the death of the creature : 

 the plumage was rubbed in some places ; the 

 wing and tail feathers were broken, but not more 

 than may be expected from birds in a state of 

 confinement, although they had an abundance 

 ^of space in their coop to roam about. 



On examining the interior of the bird, the 

 appearances of disease that presented them- 

 selves were sufficiently clear to account for its 

 death : the skin, considering the size of the 

 body, was very thin ; but this I believe to be 

 invariably the case in the pigeon tribe : the 

 bird was very muscular ; but the pectoral more 

 particularly, as well as also the other muscles, 

 were extremely pallid, and could be readily 

 torn asunder, having a closer resemblance to 

 to the muscles of a fish than to those of the fea- 

 thered tribe. On examining the crop, I observed 

 that it was, both in its external as well as its in- 



