PAINTED PIGEONS FRUIT-PIGEONS. 24? 



chief peculiarity is the broadening of the toes beneath, and having the skin 

 expanded on the soles, as Count Salvadori has pointed out. The green fruit- 

 pigeons are accustomed to assemble in flocks of comparatively large size, 

 and feed, as a rule, on small fruit. 



The Ptilopodince include some of the most beautiful birds of the world 

 among their number. Although they are mostly birds of small size, the 

 exquisite blending of their bright coloration renders their 

 combination of plumage extremely beautiful, and there is no The Painted 

 more wonderful bird in the world than the golden fruit- Pigeons. 

 pigeon of the Fiji Islands (Chryscenas victor}. Sub-Family 



The true painted pigeons (Ptilopus) are nearly all highly- Ptilopodince. 

 coloured birds, and have generally the first primary narrowed 

 to a slender point. They are among the smallest of all the pigeons, many of 

 them scarcely exceeding the bulk of a thrush, but they are ornamented, as a 

 rule, with a patch of bright colour on the fore part of the crown, which may 

 be rose-colour, pink, or even pale lavender. Very little has been written 

 about their habits, but of the allied genus, Megaloprepia, which has not the 

 attenuated ending to the first primary-quill, and has a somewhat longer and 

 more rounded tail than Ptilopus, we learn from Gould that the magnificent 

 fruit-pigeon (Megaloprepia magnified) is found in the bushes of the interior 

 of South-Eastern Australia, where it feeds on wild figs and the nut-like 

 fruit of the large palms. It is a shy bird, and is not easily discovered, unless 

 it betrays its presence by the hoarse, loud, and monotonous note, which is 

 frequently uttered by the male during the pairing season. The note is so 

 extraordinary, and so unlike that of any other bird, that it causes the utmost 

 surprise and wonderment as to what it can proceed from, in the minds of 

 persons who hear it for the first time. Five species of Megaloprepia are 

 known, ranging from the Northern Moluccas to New Guinea and to South-East 

 Australia ; whereas no less than 75 of the painted pigeons (Ptilopus) are 

 known. They are distributed over the Malayan Archipelago, from the 

 Malay Peninsula to Australia, and even to the Pacific Islands. In Mada- 

 gascar and the neighbouring islands they are represented by the species of 

 wattled fruit-pigeons (Alectrcenas), of which four kinds only are known, that 

 from Mauritius, A. nitidissima, being now extinct. 



In this sub-family are found some of the largest of all the existing pigeons, 

 and many of them are beautifully ornamented with bright patches of colour. 

 Even where ornamental plumage does not obtain, the tones 

 of rufous and grey and bronzy-green render them very lovely The Large 

 birds. Some have a fleshy knob at the base of the bill, as in Fruit-Pigeons. 

 the genus Globicera ; others carry a conspicuous crest, as Sub-Family 

 in Lopholaimus. They are found from India and the Indo- CarpophayincK. 

 Chinese countries throughout the entire Malayan Archipelago 

 to Australia. One of these great fruit-pigeons, Carpophaga cenea, is a 

 very well-known-bird in certain parts of India and Burma. In the last- 

 named province Mr. Eugene Gates says that the imperial green fruit-pigeon, 

 as he calls C. ainea, is generally distributed throughout the forests and well- 

 wooded parts of the country, wherever, in fact, there are trees which yield 

 edible fruits. It is entirely arboreal, going about in parties, and occasionally 

 in couples, and feeding on fruits. It makes its nest in thickets and bamboo 

 bushes, and lays but one egg, though in India two young birds have been 

 found in a nest. 



In the true pigeons, of which our wood-pigeon and rock-pigeon may be 



