PURPLE-BREASTED FRUIT PIGEON. 267 



has a few broad scutes visible, the upper being feathered ; the toes are long, the 

 middle toe longest, the outer longer than the inner which is a little longer than 

 the hind -toe, the lateral membranes being more strongly developed between these 

 two than between the others, most noticeable on each side of the hind-toe ; the 

 claws long and strongly curved. 



Coloration green above, head grey, yellow band across wing-coverts ; under 

 parts purple, chin grey, sides of breast green, lower -abdomen orange. 



183. Megaloprepia magnifica. PURPLE-BREASTED FRUIT PIGEON. 



Gould, Vol. V., pi. 58 (pt. xxv.), Dec. 1st, 1846 ; Suppl., pi. 67 (pt. n.), Sept. 1st, 1855. 

 Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 2, pis. 25, 26, Jan. 31st, 1911. 



Columba magnifica Temminck, Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. XIII., pt. I., p. 125, 1821 : 



Red Point, south of Woollongong, New South Wales. 



Carpophaga assimilis Gould, in Jardine's Contr. Ornith., 1850, p. (160 =) 106 : Cape York, 



North Queensland. 



Megaloprepia magnifica keri Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 184, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Bellenden Ker Range, Queensland. 



DISTRIBUTION. New South Wales, Queensland. 



Adult male. General colour above golden-green, including the sides of breast 

 and sides of body ; an irregular band of yellow or yellowish-white across the wing, 

 which is composed of yellow or white spots on the outer webs of the median coverts 

 and inner greater coverts ; primary -quills blackish, green on the outer webs, and 

 cinnamon-brown on the inner ones towards the base ; tail-feathers green, with black 

 shafts ; head and neck all round, including the throat, lavender-grey ; feathers of 

 the breast dusky-black at base, with a bar of green, and tipped with rich purple,, 

 this latter colour extends in a narrow line up the middle of the neck to the chin ; 

 abdomen dull orange-yellow, like the axillaries ; under wing-coverts bright orange- 

 yellow ; lower aspect of tail grey, quills below somewhat darker, with a patch of 

 cinnamon at the base ; bill red, yellow at tip ; iris red, bare skin round eye green ; 

 feet green. Total length 485 mm. ; culmen 33, wing 237, tail 188, tarsus 35. 



Adult female. Similar to the male but slightly smaller. Total length 460 mm. ; 

 culmen 32, wing 230, tail 172, tarsus 30. 



Immature. Not described but apparently similar to the adult. 



Nest. Substantial for a pigeon, slightly concave, and almost entirely composed 

 of wire-like tendrils of climbing plants, placed upon a foundation of a few coarse twigs. 

 Dimensions about 6 inches across by 2J inches in depth. 



Eggs. Clutch, one ; elongated in form, considerably pointed towards the 

 smaller end ; texture of shell somewhat granular ; surface slightly glossy and 

 irregular. Dimensions 45 mm. by 26. 



Breeding-season. October to February. 



Distribution and forms. New South Wales and Queensland only, the difference 

 in size between the forms at the extreme limits of this range being very great. Three 

 subspecies are recognisable : M. m. magnifica (Temminck) from New South Wales, 

 very large ; M. m. keri Mathews, from the Bellenden Ker Range, North Queensland, 

 is much smaller, wing 206 against typical 237 mm. ; while M . m. assimilis (Gould) 

 from Cape York is smaller still. Rothschild and Hartert, twenty years ago, included 

 the New Guinea forms as only subspecifically separable. 



Genus LEUCOTRERON. 



Leucotreron Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, Vol. XXXIX., p, 876, Nov. 1854. 

 Type (by original designation) : Columba cincta Temminck. 



Trerolcema Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, Vol. XLL, p. 247, July 1855. Type 

 (by monotypy) : T. leclancheri Bonap. = Columba gularis Quoy et Gaimard. 

 Laryngogramma Reichenbach, Tauben, p. 102, 1862. Type (by monotypy) : C. gularis Quoy 

 and Gaimard. 



