366 PIGEONS AND SAND-GROUSE. 



nest is roughly made of sticks, and is usually situated rather high up in a 

 mango-tree. 



The next genus (Osmotreron) contains seventeen species, inhabiting South- 

 Eastern Asia and the Malay Archipelago, and distinguished by having the feathers 

 on the legs of a greenish or whitish colour. Of its members we may mention the 

 grey-fronted green pigeon (0. malabarica), which, like its allies, closely resembles 

 the thick-billed species in its habits and mode of life. In the male the upper part 

 of the head is grey shading into olive-green on the back of the neck, the upper 

 part of the back maroon, and the rest of the upper-parts and middle tail-feathers 

 olive-green ; the lateral tail-feathers grey, with a black band across the middle ; 

 the quills and wing-coverts black, the latter edged with yellow ; and the under- 

 parts olive-yellow. The female has the upper part of the back olive -coloured. 



In the three remaining genera the sheath of the upper mandible reaches the 

 feathers of the forehead. The typical genus, Treron, includes only two species 

 inhabiting South-Eastern Asia. Both these birds have the third flight -feather 

 deeply scooped about the middle of the inner web ; the thick-billed green pigeon 

 (T. nipalensis) being distinguished by having the grey colour of the cap darker, 

 and not extending over the upper part of the cheeks. The latter inhabits the South- 

 Eastern Himalaya, extending to the Malay Peninsula ; and is very common in 

 Tenasserim, where it occurs in moderately large flocks, feeding on small fruits. 

 They feed in the morning and evening, and are noisy and quarrelsome. Their 

 flight is rapid, and they frequent dense forest, thin tree-jungle, and even gardens, 

 breeding in February and March, the nests being flimsy little platforms of straw 

 placed about ten feet above the ground. In the Philippine Phabotreron the five 

 species are peculiar in having the general colour of their plumage chocolate - 

 brown ; P. amethystina being a handsome bird with the hind-neck of a beautiful 

 amethyst colour, and the upper-parts with bronze reflections. 



The second group of the family are the painted pigeons, which 

 Painted Pigeons. . / .... J f * ' . 



include a number of small, brilliantly -coloured species, with their 



plumage generally variegated with patches of different colours, many of them 

 being birds of surpassing beauty. They may be distinguished from the last group 

 of green pigeons by the more slender bill, which is not very distensible at the base ; 

 and in this respect, as well as in their smaller size, they differ from the true fruit- 

 pigeons described below. Of the five genera, by far the largest and most important 

 is Ptilopus, which contains no less than seventy species, inhabiting a wide range 

 from the Malay Peninsula to Australia and Polynesia. The numerous species have 

 been arranged under twelve subgeneric groups, the first eight of which are dis- 

 tinguished by having the first flight-feather abruptly attenuated at the extremity, 

 the only exception being one species. The subgenus, Leucotreron, is characterised 

 by having no defined cap on the upper part of the head and by the tail being rather 

 long. As an example, we may mention P. occipitalis of the Philippine Islands, in 

 which the upper part of the head is grey, the cheeks and back of the head purple-red, 

 the back of the neck and the rest of the upper-parts bronze-green, with a grey band 

 at the tip of the tail ; while the under surface of the body is mostly whitish and grey, 

 with a wide purplish band on the lower part of the breast. In the second group, 

 which contains the typical species of painted pigeons, the tail is moderately long, 



