LONG-TAILED PIGEONS. 373 



Long-Tailed The second subfamily, Macropygiince, or long-tailed pigeons, of 



Pigeons. South- Eastern Asia and the islands of the Pacific, may be distin- 

 guished by having the tail longer than the wings, in which respect they resemble 

 the migratory pigeon, the type of the third section of this family, while they 

 differ from it in having the feathers of the tail broad and round at the tip. Four 

 genera, including thirty species, are recognised, although little has been recorded of 

 their habits. Of the first genus, Turaccena, the two species have the bill fairly 

 strong, and the tail moderately rounded, the outer feathers being much more than 

 half the length of the middle pair. The Celebean species (T. menadensis) has the 

 plumage slate-black, with the face and throat white, while in the one from Timor 

 (T. modesta) it is uniform slate-colour; both being ornamented with shades of 

 metallic green, lilac, and blue. 



The great majority of the long-tailed pigeons belong to the 

 Cuckoo-Pigeons. 6 ' Y i i n u 



genus Macropygia, commonly known as cuckoo-pigeons. All have 



the tail much graduated and wedge-shaped, the outer feathers being less than half 

 the length of the middle pair, and the general colour of their plumage is rufous, 

 chestnut, or cinnamon. In the Indian cuckoo-pigeon (M. tusalia) the male has 

 the plumage of the forehead, chin, and throat vinaceous buff, the top of the head 

 and rest of the upper-parts shining metallic green with purple and bronze reflec- 

 tions, the latter being also irregularly barred with black and purple chestnut ; the 

 under-parts are vinous grey shading into buff on the abdomen, and glossed on the 

 chest with golden-green and bronze ; the quills are brown, and the middle pair of 

 tail-feathers barred with black and vinous chestnut, while the outer pairs are 

 mostly grey. The female is not so brightly coloured, and has most of the under- 

 parts barred with brownish black. This bird is of a shy disposition, keeping to 

 thick forest, and associating in small flocks which feed chiefly on trees and seldom 

 descend to the ground. In Nipal the two white or sometimes creamy eggs are 

 laid in May and June, and the nest, which is the usual loose platform of sticks, is 

 placed on some horizontal branch, at no great height from the ground. 



In the other two genera the bill is strong and thick, and the tail 

 wedge-shaped, as in Macropygia. The first of these, Reimvardtcenas. 

 distinguished by having no crest, contains three species, ranging from Celebes to 

 the Duke of York Island. In Reinwardt's long-tailed pigeon (R. reinwardti) both 

 sexes have the head, neck, and mantle pale lavender, the back, wings, and middle 

 tail-feathers chestnut ; and the front of the neck and breast white shading into 

 lavender on the abdomen. The last genus, Coryphcenas, contains one crested 

 species (C. crassirostris) from the Solomon Group. The whole plumage of this 

 bird is slate-colour, darker on the upper surface, and the head is dusky brown, the 

 feathers on the back of the head being lengthened into a greyish brown crest. 

 Passenger- The last group of the subfamily, like the other long-tailed pigeons, 



Pigeon. } ias the tail longer than the wings, but it is also narrower, and the 

 feathers are pointed at the extremity. Only one species, the passenger-pigeon 

 (Ectopistes migratorius) ; of North America is known. In the male the head and 

 upper-parts of the body are bluish grey, spotted with black on the wings; the 

 quills brownish black with grey edges, the chin whitish grey, and the breast 

 cinnamon-rufous shading into pale vinous on the rest of the under-parts, and 



