On Geotrygoji chrysia.

GEOTRYGON CHRYSIA.



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A short time back I received from Mr. H. D. Astlejr a letter

asking me if I could find out for him the name of a dove he had

lately received along with a pair of Blue-headed Pigeons ; as

these latter come from Cuba the probability was that the unknown

dove also came from there. A drawing of the head showed that

the bird belonged to the genus Geotrygoji , and as only two or

three species inhabit Cuba I soon found out that it was the

species known as chrysia.


About a fortnight later a small parcel arrived, containing

the somewhat mangled remains of the bird. I was able to have

a skin made of it, so that I could take it to the Museum to be

sure that it was identified correctly. It is a very rare bird, only

three skins are at South Kensington, and what was interesting to

find out was that one of them had formerly lived in the Zoo¬

logical Gardens, so that this is probably the second time this

beautiful bird has been imported alive. No mention of “ chrysia”

will be found in the “ List of Animals,” so that the specimen at

the Gardens probably was entered under the name montana , by

which this species has often been called.


It is rather a small bird, not being much larger than the

well known Red Ground Dove ( G. montana), in fact Mr. Astley’s

Bird is actually smaller than a specimen I have of montana, but

one of the skins in the Museum was a good deal larger and

brighter coloured. In colour the wings are light chestnut, the

head and neck are glossed with metallic green and violet re¬

flections, whilst the mantle is adorned with the most brilliant

metallic purple ; a whitish band passes under each eye, the chin

and throat are also whitish, the breast is vinous.


It is a pity that this group of Ground Doves is not more

freely imported, as nothing can exceed the brilliant metallic hues

of many of the species. Mr. Astley’s bird was sexed as a female.

In life its bill had a curious downward curve, but this is not

borne out by the Museum birds, so was probably the result of an

accident. It is also known from Haiti, the Bahamas and Florida

Keys. T. H. Newman.



