117 



OCEANIC FRUIT-PIGEON. 



Carpophaga oceanica. 



PLATE VII. 



Columba oceanica, Lesson, Voyage de la Coguille, pi. 41. 

 Id. Man. (TOrnith. v. ii. p. 166. 



THE metallic splendour of the dorsal plumage of 

 this beautiful bird, is only equalled by that of another 

 species, viz. the Nutmeg Pigeon, or Columba cenea 

 of Latham, to which it bears a marked resemblance, 

 and that not confined to a similar effect or play of 

 colour, but to a peculiarity of form observable in the 

 bills of both species. This consists of an excrescence 

 or globular knob, which has its origin upon the basal 

 part of the upper mandible, and which in the present 

 species attains the size of a small cherry, but in the 

 aenea is not so large, and scarcely so globular in shape. 

 From the observations that have been made upon 

 these birds, it appears that this excrescence, common 

 'to many of the group, is not a permanent feature, 

 but, like that which we see in the sheldrake, is only 

 developed during the season of reproduction, the 

 base of the bill at other times scarcely exhibiting any 

 indication of the swelling.* The great similarity in 



* As bearing more particularly upon this subject, we quote 

 the following passage from Du Puy's Voyage de la Coquille, 



