36 BIRD GALLERY. , 



they are hatched. The eggs, three to five in number, are double- 

 spotted with dark purplish-brown and lilac, and are laid in a slight 

 hollow in the ground lined with dry grass. Hemipodes are entirely 

 birds of the Old World, and are distributed over Africa, Madagascar, 

 India, and China, and extend throughout the Malayan Archipelago to 

 Australia. 



The Andalusian Hemipode {Thrniae sylvatica) (199) inhabits Southern 

 Europe and North Africa, and is said to have been met with on three 

 occasions in the South of England. Like the rest of its allies, it is 

 solitary in its habits, frequenting dry grassy plains and localities covered 

 with low trees and dense bushes, where it is difficult to flush, and 

 escapes from danger by running. 



Orderly. COLUMBIFORMES. Pigeon-tribe. 



[Cases The birds of this large order possess so characteristic a physiognomy 

 ■-' that they may be easily recognised at the first glance. The bill is 

 rather slender and weak, covered at the base with a soft, more or less 

 swollen membrane, in which the nostrils are situated. Some portion of 

 the plumage has almost always a metallic gloss, and many of the exotic 

 species are gorgeously coloured. The legs and toes in the typical Pigeon 

 are short and not adapted for scratching up the ground like tiiose of the 

 Game-Birds, and the legs are never armed with spurs. 



All the species are monogamous, and both sexes assist in building the 

 nest, which is a loosely constructed cradle of sticks. The eggs are pure 

 white and usually two in number, though there are many species which 

 lay only one. The young when hatched are blind and naked, but after 

 a little time become clothed with hairy down. They remain in the nest 

 for many days and are entirely dependent on the care of their parents, 

 who at first feed them with a milky fluid secreted by' the crop and 

 afterwards with moistened food. 



Pigeons are found all over the world, but are most numerous in the 

 Eastern Hemisphere, especially in the islands of the Indo-Pacific Ocean 

 and in Australia. 



About 450 species are knoAvn, and are valuable to man on account of 

 the excellent quality of their flesh. 



The species exhibited bring out very clearly three interesting 

 points : — the evidence of adaptation to an arboreal or to a ground- 

 dwelling life, the great contrast in size, and the wonderful range and 

 variety of coloration. 



