CHAP. VI. j 



KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR HTSTORY. 199 



than in the male; the edges of all the feathers are 

 yellowish white ; their radiance does not approach that 

 of the ruby, but the reflections are rather of a metallic 

 green. The circles (miroirs) on the secondary feathers 

 are also smaller and duller. 



" The young Lumachelles have their plumage of a 

 blackish ash colour, and all the feathers are margined 

 with umber brown. The forehead and throat are 

 whitish, and the circles are of a sombre hue, with 

 slightly-greenish reflections." 



In these birds, the rich metallic lights which adorn 

 the necks of our Pigeons seem transferred to the wings. 



The Australian Pigeons are specially interesting, in- 

 asmuch as their history, from the first acquaintance of 

 civilized man with them, is likely to remain ever acces- 

 sible to future naturalists, and so will hereafter furnish 

 a record of what modifications, if any, captivity and 

 domestication are able to effect in their outward appear- 

 ance and inward disposition. They have not yet all 

 been brought alive to this country ; but every fresh 

 ship-arrival may obviate that cause of ignorance here, 

 respecting their capabilities. It is in England, proba- 

 bly, that their domesticability, and readiness to breed 

 in confinement, will be really tested, as has been the 

 case with the Black Swan and the Cereopsis ; for the 

 colonists are too glad to depend upon the domestic 

 creatures of the Old World, and have too much heavy 

 work such as searching for mines into the bowels of 

 the earth, and tracing the vast extent of horrible burn- 

 ing deserts to bestow, as yet, much pains on the wild 

 indigenous creatures of the land. That is a task which 

 requires more leisure, ease, and wealth, than ought to 

 be possessed by the subduers of a virgin wilderness. 



