INDIAN ZOOLOGY. ^j 



VIII. 



COLUMBA MELANOCEPHALA, 

 THE BLACK-CAPPED PIGEON. 



Cplumba Melanocephala, Gmelin. Lin. i. 781. Latham iv, 654. 

 Lidtx Ornith. ii, 6l0. 



'"T^HIS moil elegant fpecles is painted the fize of life. Black-capped 

 It was found on the a;round in the iiie of Java, hav- igeok. 



Heat of the 



ing dropped down dead in one of thofe hot days that are Torrid Zone. 

 known only in the torrid zone, when the fowls of the air 

 often perifli, unable to refpire; when lions, leopards, and 

 wolves, immerge themfelves up to their noftrils in the 

 water, to preferve themfelves from the fcorching fun * ; 

 and when even men themfelves have been forced to af- 

 cend the higheft trees, in order to draw in a more tempe- 

 rate air -f-. 



Such a day occafioned the difcovery of this fpecies. 



The fore part of the head, the cheeks, and beginning Description. 

 of the breaft, were white : the hind part of the head 

 black : the chin yellow. 



• Boonc^s, Acco'.mt of the Climate and Difeafea oi Senega!, 

 t Phil. Tran/aS}, 1767. 



The 



