Fruit- Pigeons. 1 4 1 



Chapter XXYII. 

 FRUIT-PIGEONS (Treronidce). 



Wedge-tailed Fruit-Pigeon (Sphenocereus sphenurus). 



The female "differs from the male in being of a darker green, 

 and in having no maroon on the wings and back, which are olive- 

 green, uniform with the rest of the upper parts ; there is no rufous 

 tinge on the crown and breast, and the longer under tail-coverts are 

 yellowish-white centred with ashy olive-green " (Salvadori, Catalogue 

 of Birds, vol. xxi. p. 9). 



Thick-billed Fruit-Pigeon (Vinago crassirostris). 



Only the male is sexed in the Natural History Museum, but the 

 probable female differs in being smaller and altogether of a deeper 

 colour. There seems to be no reliable difference in the form of the 

 bills, but this seems to be frequently the case among the Doves. 



Bare-paced Fruit-Pigeon (Vinago calva). 



The female is smaller than the male, with an altogether smaller 

 and narrower bill; the naked frontal patch in this sex is more 

 restricted. The plumage of the sexes is similar, but variable, some 

 examples showing more greyish-lavender on the back than others, 

 but whether the differences are local or are due to age I cannot say ; 

 they are not sexual. 



Delalande's Fruit-Pigeon {Vinago delalandei). 



The female is smaller than the male. The bills of the sexes vary 

 somewdiat, but do not seem to offer reliable sexual differences. As 

 regards plumage, the head and neck of the female are of a more 

 uniform and deeper olive-green than in the male. 



Purple-shouldered Fruit-Pigeon (Crocopus phcenicopterus). 



The female is smaller than the male ; the bill variable. According 

 to Count Salvadori, " The female differs from the male in plumage, 

 in that the purple tinge near the bend of the wing is very slightly 

 marked, and the under tail-coverts are slate-grey, more or less mixed 

 with chestnut, in the middle" {Catalogue of Birds, vol. xxi. p. 28). 



