CHALCOPHAPS INDICA. 715 



browner hue than the chest, with a trace of bluish in some specimens on the lower part ; green portions of the 

 upper surface more overcast with bronze than in the male : the pale rump-bands narrower ; the upper and under 

 tail-coverts and the tail warm ferruginous brown, the upper tail-coverts tipped with blackish, the lower with 

 bluish grey ; the three outer tail-feathers with a subterminal band of blackish, and the two outer pairs bluish at 

 the base and tips. 



Young (nestling : Travancore). " "Warm brown above, with all the feathers except those of the head and quills broadly 

 tipped with chestnut, and with a coppery-green lustre on the scapulars and the outer webs of the tertiaries and 

 later secondaries, and with all the primaries margined with chestnut; below duskily barred with chestnut." 

 (Bourdillon.) 



Obs. I have not had an opportunity of comparing South-Indian examples of this Pigeon with those in my collection 

 from Ceylon, and I am therefore unable to say whether such slight differences exist between the birds from these 

 two localities as are perceptible in those which I have examined from a number of other places throughout its 

 range in the Malay archipelago. As regards the size of those nearest to Ceylon on the mainland, viz. specimens 

 from South Travancore, Mr. Bourdillon gives us the following data : — Male, length 10-25 inches, wing 6 - l, tail 

 3 - 75, tarsus 1*06 ; female, length 1O0 inches, wing 5-75, tail 3-7.5. These dimensions exceed considerably those 

 of every Ceylonese specimen I have measured ; the bird is, however, a variable one in size as well as in its tints, 

 and these may have been exceptionally large examples ; a female from North India, collected by Capt. Pinwell, 

 corresponds fairly with a specimen in my collection. Mr. Hume remarks that Thayetmvo specimens are identical 

 with those from all parts of India, Tenasserim, the Andamans, and the Mcobars. The bird from the latter region 

 was separated by Bonaparte as C. augusta; but Mr. Hume fails to find any valid difference in it from those 

 obtained in the Andamans or India ; and he remarks that the specimens from these islands have the rump-bands 

 somewhat less strongly marked than in continental birds, and the white frontal band somewhat narrower. He 

 further states (what I have myself observed in Ceylon specimens) that the bluish-grey stripe down the centre 

 of the hind neck is an uncertain character, and has no reference to the breeding-season. 



The Javan bird, C. javanica, Gmelin, which "Wallace united (I. c.) with the species inhabiting Borneo, Flores, Lombok, and 

 Sumatra, was originally considered distinct ; but it is now admitted to be identical with the Indian, Malaccan, 

 Pormosan, and Philippine form. Examples I have seen from East Java are more purplish on the under surface 

 than my Ceylon skins, the abdomen is not so pale, and there is more of the bronze tipping to the feathers of the 

 upper rump-band. In one specimen the green of the back is less illumined with bronze : tf , wing 5 - 8 inches, 

 tail 4 - 0. The Celebean bird is likewise identical with the Javan. 



Allied species are: — 0. cyaneopileata, Bonnaterre, = G. moluccensis, Gr. P. Gray; C. timorensis, Bonap. ; C. stephani, 

 Homb. & Jacq. 



C. cyaneopileata is nearest to the Javan and Indian bird. It is redder on the throat, neck, and breast, and the abdomen 

 is darker ; back more coppery, and the inner webs of the quills more covered with cinnamon-red and also of a 

 brighter hue : <3 , wing 5-7 inches. The female, which I have not seen, is said by Wallace to have the head and 

 upper part of the back earthy brown. 



C. timorensis is a larger bird, and the male has no white forehead or eye-stripe, the head being vinaceous down to the 

 base of the bill ; back as in C. indica ; the primaries with more cinnamon-colour, extending to the outer webs of the 

 shorter feathers ; lower parts redder than in our bird : wing 6-2 inches. The female has the head and hind neck 

 coppery brown and the forehead ashy ; tail coppery chestnut-colour, the lateral feathers bluish grey, with dark 

 terminal bands. 



C. stephani is ashy chestnut beneath ; upper tail-coverts and tail chestnut-red ; an olive-black rump-band, bounded 

 above by a fulvous band, and beneath by a rufescent one ; forehead white ; back chestnut : wing, <S , 6-0- inches. 

 This is a very distinct species inhabiting North Celebes. 



C. hombroni, another species described by Wallace, is smaller than C. stephani ; " the forehead is slate-brown, and the 

 lower back black, with two yellowish bands ; middle and larger wing-coverts and ends of the tertiaries golden 

 green." 



Distribution. — This beautiful Pigeon is chiefly an inhabitant of the damp forests and well-watered wooded 

 districts of Ceylon ; but yet its babits are so essentially sylvan that it is found all through tbe forests of the 

 northern half of the island. In tbe woods and jungles of tbe Western Province it is a common bird, being 

 especially partial to barnboo-cheena, and it is consequently abundant throughout Saffragam and in the well- 

 covered hills of tbe south-western portion of tbe island. In forest districts, such as tbe Kukul Korale and 

 Pasdun Korale, it is very numerous. It is well diffused throughout the Central Province, being found up to 



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