PIGEON. 



451 



perfect security under the thick shade of the 1 uxu- 

 riant foliage. Generally speaking, their flesh is dark- 

 coloured and tough, not very well flavoured, and, there- 

 fore, they are not very eagerly sought after as game. 



Pointed- tailed Pigeon (V. oxyura]. This bird is a 

 native of the Sunda Isles ; and it is remarkable for 

 the form of its tail, which is very long, stout, much 

 wedge-shaped, and has the two central feathers much 

 produced beyond the others. The general plumage 

 is green, most brilliant on the neck and belly, and 

 crossed on the breast by a broad band of orange red, 

 which fades gradually into the green both ways ; the 

 lower part of the belly and the under tail-coverts 

 (which, taken altogether, are lancet-shaped and very 

 pointed) are yellow, blending gradually with the 

 green on the body, but well defined on the tail-co- 

 verts, the under sides of the tail-feathers being blackish 

 green at their bases, and pule grey at their tips ; the 

 quills are black, and, though the wings are long, they 

 do not when closed reach much beyond the two 

 lateral tail-feathers, which are not above one-third 

 the length of the two middle ones ; the bill is black 

 at the base and yellow at the tip ; the feet are bright 

 reddish orange, and the tarsi are mottled with green 

 feathers ; the space surrounding the eyes red and 

 pointed, both in the direction of the gape and back- 

 wards. This bird is abundant in Java and the other 

 Sunda Isles ; but it is not known what difference of 

 habit results from the form of the tail, which is pecu- 

 liar among the whole of the tribe ; for though many 

 of them have the tails much wedge-shaped, and some 

 have them very long, this is the only one which has 

 the two middle feathers so much longer than the rest. 

 Length twelve inches. 



.\mmntii- Pigeon (V. arcnnalica). Though this spe- 

 cies is only about nine inches long, it is really larger 

 in the body, in consequence of the comparative short- 

 ness of the tail. Altogether it is a stouter bird, ap- 

 parently less formed for rapid flight, and its bill is 

 particularly strong and hard ; the upper part is pur- 

 ple brown, passing into sandy yellow of a greenish 

 tinge, which is the uniform colour of all the under 

 part, including the sides of the head as high as the 

 eyes ; but the colour is a little paler than the last : 

 the colour of the upper part passes into greenish ash 

 n the nape, greyish ash on the top~of the head, and 

 bluish ash on the front ; the quills are black, and the 

 coverts of the wings brown, each feather with a very 

 distinct border of yellow ; the rump and middle tail- 

 feathers are green, and the lateral tail-feathers black 

 and grey; the feet are red, with a tinge of orange, 

 and the bill yellowish green. It is, however, subject 

 to varieties of colour. 



It is a very common bird, both in India and the 

 eastern islands, and the spreading shade of the ban- 

 yan or Indian tig is one of its favourite habitations. 

 JCvery one knows that, according to the Indian super- 

 stitions, this is a sacred tree, and also that it has a 

 peculiar habit of growth in sending down perpen- 

 dicular fibres from the branches, which enter the 

 ground and take root, until the tree has a vast num- 

 ber of trunks, and becomes a grove of no mean di- 

 mensions, all united by solid wood at the top, and 

 thus proof against the most violent winds, at the same 

 time that its foliage is so close, that scarcely a sun- 

 beam can find its way through. 



They are birds of mild and timid disposition, and, 

 like most of the pigeons, they live socially, except 

 during the breeding season, at which time each pair 



retire to their own nesting-place, and construct a very 

 rude and simple fabric of a few sticks, which is the 

 general structure of nests among those pigeons which 

 nestle in trees and shrubs. 



Parrot Pigeon (V. psittaccfi}. This is a species 

 belonging to the Molucca Islands, measuring ten 

 inches and a half in length, and having all the clothing 

 plumage of a beautiful green. The principal quills 

 are black ; the secondaries are the same, margined 

 with yellow ; the bill is reddish-grey, and the feet 

 blackish brown. Though there is little variety of 

 colour in the parrot pigeon, it is one of the most 

 beautiful of the whole race ; and we may remark, in 

 passing, that many of the pigeons of the Moluccas, in 

 winch islands they are very numerous, are remarkable 

 for the greenness of their colours. 



The Commander Pigeon ( V. militaris], is an Indian 

 species a foot long. The upper parts are pale green ; 

 the. neck yellow, marked with a band of ash colour ; 

 the rump grey, a spot of purple brown on the bastard 

 wing ; the quills black, bordered with yellow ; the 

 lateral tail-feathers bordered with grey, the under 

 part bluish grey, the thighs yellow, the tail-coverts 

 russet, with blue tips ; the bill of a grey colour, and 

 very stout ; and the feet red. 



Abyssinian Pigeon (V. Abyssinica}. This species 

 was first made known to Europeans by Bruce. It is 

 yellowish green on the upper part, bluish green on the 

 head and neck, violet red on the smaller wing-coverts, 

 yellow, bordered with black, on the large. The quills 

 are black, with yellow borders. The tail-feathers are 

 bluish grey on the upper side, and blackish on the 

 under, with grey toward the tips. The under parts are 

 yellow, clouded with orange, and the under tail-coverts 

 are mottled with bluish grey and maroon brown. The 

 bill is yellow at the tip and red at the base, and the 

 feet are orange. The length is eleven inches and a 

 half. The female has the upper part green, the under 

 and also the head olive yellow, the smaller wing- 

 coverts sandy violet, and all the rest of the markings 

 much duller than those of the male. 



Purple-crowned Pigeon (V. purpuralus}. This is 

 an exceedingly beautiful bird, a native of the Society 

 Islands, and may be taken as a specimen of the 

 pigeons of that part of the world. Its bill, though 

 still hard at the tip, is by no means so powerful, in 

 proportion to the size of the bird, as those which we 

 have previously mentioned, and its general aspect is 

 more light and delicate. Its notes are also more soft, 

 and are said to resemble those of the turtle. The 

 upper part, including the tail, the neck and head as 

 far as over the eyes, and the sides and flanks, are 

 very rich and glossy green. The top of the head is 

 lilac purple, surrounded by a narrow line of rich 

 yellow. The chin and throat are yellowish, and the 

 green toward the head is of a lighter shade than on 

 the body, and glossed with grey. The feathers on 

 the breast have also reflections of grey toward their 

 extremities, and their terminations are peculiar, as 

 the shaft ends abruptly, and the webs on each side 

 project beyond it, as if a triangular piece had been 

 cut out of the feather. The primary quills are black 

 and green, margined with bright yellow. The tail- 

 feathers are also black and green, except the two 

 central ones, which are wholly green, with some mark- 

 ings of yellow ; and the lateral tail-feathers have the 

 same form of tips as those which are mentioned on the 

 breast. The tarsi are feathered down to the toes, 

 and the toes are much margined, and furnished with 

 FF2 



