278 Mr. D. Seth-Smith, ; 7;


head, neck, breast and abdomen vinous purple, with a bluish

tinge on the nape. On the lower back are two bars of bluish

grey. The tail is black. The male has very conspicuous white

patches on the shoulders which are lacking in the female. The

bill is bright orange inclining to red in some specimens. The

true Chalcophaps indica inhabits the whole of the Indian Peninsula,

Ceylon, the Andaman and. Nicobar Islands, South China, the

Malay Peninsula, Celebes, the Moluccas, and. New Guinea.


In the male of C. indica the forehead and a line passing

from this over the eye are white, and the crown and nape are

bluish lead-colour, otherwise the colour is similar to that of the

Australasian species.


In the British Museum Catalogue of Birds the total length

of C. chrysochlora is given as 9-5 inches, while that of C. i?idica

is said to be 10-5 inches. Certainly in all of the living specimens

I have seen the Australasian birds have been appreciably larger

than those of the Indian species. A fine male of the former

now in my aviary appears to be fully ten inches or more in

length, while a typical cabinet specimen of C. indica now before

me measures but eight and a half inches. But skin measure¬

ments are seldom of much value.


In October 1903 a female specimen of C. natalis the

Christmas Island form of C. indica was received at the Zoological

Gardens. The male of this form is said to be indistinguishable

from that of C. indica , but the female differs in having the upper

tail-coverts and central tail-feathers bright cinnamon colour,

while the neck, breast and upper back are strongly tinged with

this colour. This bird paired with a typical Indian specimen

and one young bird, a male, was reared, which cannot be

distinguished from the pure-bred males.


With the exception of this single specimen of C. natalis

the only species of Chalcophaps that have ever been imported

alive to this country, so far as I am aware, are the two above

mentioned.


It is only natural that so brilliantly coloured a bird as a

Green-winged Pigeon should, in a wild state, inhabit thickly

wooded country. Those who have known these beautiful birds

in a state of freedom are agreed that they rarely, if ever, leave



