Swainson's Fkuit-pigeon.- 



-BIRDS.. 



-Thk Crowned Pigeon. 



391 



TREE PIGEONS. 



The birds to which the name of Tree Tigeons has 

 been given, are distinguished from tlie preceding by 

 their generally short stout bill, m which the ridge of 

 both mandibles is nearly equally arched, and by their 

 very short tarsi, which are usually clothed with feathers 

 for a gi'eater or less distance below the heel. The 

 inner front toe is also shorter than the outer one. The 

 shortness of the tarsi in these birds indicates that they 

 are less adapted than the preceding pigeons for walking 

 upon the ground, and in their habits they are pre- 

 eminently arboreal, passing nearly their whole time 

 amongst the branches of trees, and feeding principally 

 upon the fruits which they find in such situations. 

 They are confined to the warmer parts of the eastern 

 hemisphere, and the majority of the species are inhab- 

 itants of Southern Asia, with its islands, and Australia. 

 A few species are also met with in Africa. 



SWAINSON'S FRUIT-PIGEON {PtiUnopus Straiii- 

 sonii), a native of the Clarence river district of Australia, 

 is a beautiful little bird, measuring about seven inches 

 and a half in length. It is of a shining green colour 

 above, with the whole top of the head crimson, sur- 

 rounded by a yellow ring ; the feathers of the wuigs 

 are more or less distinctly margined with yellow, and 

 the tertiaries are deep blue towards the exti'emity ; the 

 tail-feathers are broadly tipped wth yellow ; the neck 

 is grayish, and the breast green, each feather of the 

 latter part being forked at the extremity, and marked 

 with a silvery spot, giving a singular aspect to this 

 portion of the plumage ; the flanks are green, but the 

 centre of the abdomen is orange-red, with a reddish- 

 lilac crescent-shaped baud separating it from the green 

 of the breast, and the under tail-coverts are orange- 

 yellow. 



THE AROMATIC PIGEON {Treron aromatlca) is a 

 native of India, Java, and some other neighbouring 

 islands, where it resides principally upon the banyan 

 trees. It is a shy bird, to which the concealment 

 aflbrded by tlie dense foKage of the banyans is most 

 welcome ; and as the fruit of these trees aflbrds it a 

 constant and abundant supply of food, it is rarely under 

 the necessity of quitting its shelter. During the greater 

 part of the year considerable flocks of these birds live 

 together ; but during the breeding season they pair, and 

 build a slight nest of twigs, upon which the female 

 deposits two white eggs. 



The Aromatic Pigeon measures between ten and 

 eleven inches in length, and has the whole lower sur- 

 face, except the chin and tlu'oat, which are yeflow, of 

 a yellowish-green colour ; the crown of the head is 

 grayish ; the neck is green ; the back and lesser wing- 

 coverts are purplish-red ; the greater wing-coverts and 

 secondaries black, with bright yellow margins, and the 

 primaries are black. The lower part of the back, the 

 rump, and the two middle tail-feathers are green ; the 

 rest of the tail-feathers are bluish-gray, with a dark 

 central band. Many other species of Tree Pigeons 

 are met with in the Eastern Islands. The White- 

 nooTED Pigeon {Treron Sieboldii), represented on 

 Plate 18, fig. 05, is a native of Jajian. 



THEWAAlIAPIGEON(r)TTO«ff/)j/.ssift/cn)— Plate 18, 



fig. GO — a native of Abyssinia, and of several other 

 parts of Africa, flies in large flocks, and reposes during 

 the heat of the day amongst the foliage of trees. It is 

 said by Bruce to be particularly fond of a species of 

 ash, upon the seeds of which it feeds. At the com- 

 mencement of the rainy season it migrates from 

 Abyssinia towards the south and south-west. The 

 Waalia Pigeons are very fat, and good eating ; but they 

 are regarded as unclean by the Abyssinians, who will 

 not even touch their bodies. 



GROUND PIGEONS. 



In this group the bill is of the same form as in the 

 true Pigeons, which these birds resemble in their 

 general characters ; but they have the tarsi much elon- 

 gated, and considerably stouter than in the preceding 

 groups, and their toes greatly resemble those of the 

 gaUinaceous birds. The wings of the Ground Pigeons 

 are also short and rounded, indicating far loss power of 

 flight than is possessed by the Pigeons genei'ally ; and, 

 in fact, both in their structure and mode of life they 

 may be regarded as forming a transition from the true 

 Pigeons to the true Galling. These birds are found 

 almost exclusively in the warmer parts of the world. 

 Most of them are inhabitants of the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, especially the Indian islands and Australia. 



THE CROWNED PIGEON [Goura coronata) — Plate 

 18, fig. 66. This bird, which is the largest living 

 species of its order, is an inhabitant of many of the 

 islands of the Eastern archipelago, in some of which it 

 is tolerably abundant. It feeds upon seeds, which it 

 picks up from the ground, and also upon berries ; it 

 builds its nest upon the branch of a tree, and lays only 

 two eggs. The young are fed by their parents with 

 food regin-gitated from the crop. 



The length of this fine Pigeon is from twenty-eight 

 to tliirty inches. The general colour of its plumage is 

 a pale bluish-gray, but the feathers of the back, the 

 scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts, are black at the 

 base, and purplish-brown at the apex, and the greater 

 wing-coverts are also purplish-brown, with a broad 

 white hand across their middle. The quill feathers of 

 the wings and tail are gray. The most striking 

 character presented by the bird consists in an elegant 

 and ample crest of delicate decomposed plumes with 

 which the head is adorned. This is of the same pale 

 bluish-gray colour as the plumage of the head and 

 lower parts. 



THE NICOBAR PIGEON {Calmias nicobarica) is found 

 not only in tlie island of Nioobar, but also on the 

 continent of Asia, and in several other islands, including 

 the Moluccas and New Ireland. It measures about 

 fifteen inches in length, and is remarkable for the 

 splendour of its plumage, which is of a rich metallic 

 green colour, and exhibits the most brilliant golden, 

 coppery, and purplish tints, according to the direction 

 in which the light strikes it. The feathers of the back 

 of tlie neck are much elongated, and form a brilliant 

 mantle, which falls over the back and wings. 



THE TAMBOURINE GROUND-DOVE [Peristcra tym- 

 panistria), a native of Southern Africa, has received 

 its name from the resemblance of the cooing of the 

 male, when heard at some distance, to the sound of a 



