130 DOUBLE-CRESTED PIGEON. 



that eminent naturalist ; for, although an approach 

 from the Fruit-eating Pigeons or Carpophaga, to 

 the true Pigeons, is made by C. spadicea and dilopha, 

 still the form of their feet, evidently better adapted 

 for arboreal than terrene habits, and their general as- 

 pect, are such as to shew that some intermediate form 

 is wanting to bring them into that immediate con- 

 nexion with the group represented by the European 

 Ring Pigeon, which M. Temminck seems to inti- 

 mate.* 



In size the Dilopha nearly equals the Chestnut- 

 shouldered Pigeon, some specimens measuring near- 

 ly eighteen inches in length. The wings are long 

 and powerful, reaching, when closed, beyond the 

 middle of the tail, the second, third, and fourth fea- 

 thers, are the longest, and nearly equal to each other, 

 the fifth is shorter than the first. The bill is. of a 

 rich orange colour, the tip of the under mandible 

 obliquely truncated, that of the upper compressed and 

 moderately arched, with a rounded culmen. The 

 frontal crest originates on the upper part of the bill, 

 immediately behind the horny tip, and above the 

 nostrils, and is composed of long arched feathers 

 pointing backwards, of a soft and loose texture, their 

 colour bluish-grey, tinged with rufous or reddish- 

 brown. The occipital crest is also decumbent or 

 falls backwards, and is likewise composed of long 



* The Columba Trocaz of the Illustrations of Ornitho- 

 logy, appears to be one of these intermediate forms. 



