158 



tail 8'5 ; bill, along the ridge "75, along the edge of lower mandible 1*4 ; middle toe and claw 225 ; the 

 lateral toes equal, being "75 shorter; hind toe T4. 



Female. Hardly distinguishable from the male, but with the metallic tints of the plumage somewhat duller. 



Young. In the young bird the underparts have a rufous tinge, which is deepest on the flanks and under 

 tail-coverts ; the bill and irides are of a lighter colour than in the adult, and the feet instead of being 

 carmine are of a bright coral-red ; the soles pale brown instead of yellow. 



Obs. Before arriving at full maturity the plumage is subject to slight variations. It is not unusual to find 

 the under tail-coverts pale rufous and the white plumage of the underparts clouded or marked with 

 grey. 



Varieties. Partial albinos, or light-coloured varieties, are occasionally met with. A specimen presented to 

 me by Mr. Edward Hardcastle, of Hokitika, has the head, neck, fore part of the breast, and all the 

 upper parts pale yellowish brown, more or less glossed with purple ; the wing-coverts and scapulars 

 stained towards the tips with coppery brown ; the quills and tail-feathers uniform pale yellowish brown, 

 tinged with vinous, the tips of the latter paler. In another specimen, shot at Maungakaramea, near 

 Whaugarei, and for which I am indebted to Mr. Henry Mair, the neck, shoulders, back, upper 

 tail-coverts, scapulars, and wing-coverts present scattered feathers of pure white, imparting to the 

 plumage of the upper parts a spotted appearance. Both of these specimens are now in the Colonial 

 Museum. A third example, in the possession of Mr. William Luxford, of Wellington, has the head, 

 neck, shoulders, and upper wing-coverts coppery brown, and the rest of the upper parts pale grey ; the 

 primary quills tinged with brown at the tips ; the under parts of the body white. The occurrence of 

 these varieties will sufficiently account for the notice, by Hombron and Jacquinot, of Carpophaga 

 spadicea leucophcea, which they describe as follows : — " back and wing-coverts undulated with rufous ; 

 head, occiput, cheeks, and back of neck grey, marked with paler ; quills and tail sooty grey, the latter 

 tipped with white ; underparts of throat and breast brownish grey, traversed with grey more or less 

 pure ; belly and under tail-coverts all white." 



Remarks. The head is small, the neck of moderate length, and the body full, with a prominent and rounded 

 breast ; the primaries graduate upwards to the third and fourth, which are generally of equal length ; the 

 fifth is slightly shorter, and the rest are rapidly diminished ; the secondaries are broad and rounded ; 

 the tail-feathers large and even, forming together an ample fan when the tail is expanded. The plumage 

 is thick and compact, and each feather is furnished with a dense undergrowth of downy plumules of 

 extreme fineness, which branch laterally from both sides of the shaft. This peculiarity is most fully 

 developed in the long plumage of the back, where only the tips of the feathers assume the surface 

 character. By this wise provision of nature, the bird is perfectly clothed in a thick undercovering of 

 soft down, and much warmth imparted to the body. The tarsus is completely concealed. Ou moving 

 the lowest feathers, however, two broad scutella are exposed ; on the middle toe there are 1 1 scutella, 

 on the outer toe 10, on the inner toe 7, and on the hind toe 4. 



Of the large and well-defined group of fruit-eating Pigeons found dispersed over the sea-girt 

 lands of the southern hemisphere, the single species inhabiting New Zealand is undoubtedly one 

 of the finest both for size and brilliancy of plumage. As the habits of Pigeons, however, are 

 very much the same all the world over, I do not consider it necessary to enter very minutely into 

 the history of the present bird. 



