form recurringj indeed, abno'st all over the -v^orld, except -within, 

 the frigid zones. "We wiU opcsn the list with the largest and. 

 most unpigeon-Hke of the teibe, the Crowned Gonra Pigeon, 

 fonnd in the Indian archipelago and mo^t of the MoUucca 

 Islands. !From head to tail, this bird m.easttres nearly two 

 and a half feet. Its beak, which is two inches long, is black, 

 and its head surmounted by a large semicircular compressed 

 crest of narrow straight feathers, of a delioa;te light blue 

 colour. Light blue, or rather grey-blue, marks the under 

 part of the bird's plumage. The feathers of the back, 

 scapulars, and smaller wing-coverts, black at the base, and 

 rich purple-brown at the tips; greater coverts of the same 

 colour, but barred with white in the centre, so that, when the 

 wings are closed, a single transverse band appears across 

 them. It builds its nest in trees, lays two eggs, and feeds 

 chiefly on berries and seedff. Its flesh is said to be of excellent 

 flavour. SpeaJdng of the splendid specimens of this bird to be 

 seen iu the Zoologfioal Gardens, J. G. Wood says, " Their 

 walk is (juite of a royal character — stately and majestic, and 

 well according with tiie beantifnl feathered crown they wear 

 on their heads. The crest seems to be always held expanded. 

 They have a quaint habit of sunning themselves upon the hot 

 pavement of their prison, by lying on one side, laying the head 

 flat on the ground, tucking the lower wing over them, and 

 spreading the other over their bodies, so as to form a very 

 aliiaHow tent, each quill feather being separated from its neigh- 

 bour and radiating round the body. Sometimes the bird varies 

 this attitude, by stretching the other wing to its full extent, 

 and holding it from the ground at an an^e of 20 degrees or 

 so, as if to take advantage of every sunbeam and every waft of 

 air. While lying in this imique attitude, it might easily pass, 

 at a little distance, for a moss-covered stone, a heap of withered 

 leaves, or a ragged tree-stump, with one broken branch pro- 

 jecting to the side." 



They are easily tamed, and in the East Indies are fre- 

 queirtly kept in the farmyard, among the ducks and geese. 

 They have all the habits of the common little pigeon, and 

 bill and coo like the most ordinary "runt." The cooing, 

 however, is a trifle more violent than that of the English 

 species. Indeed, M. Bougainville relates that his sailors were 

 greatly alarmed on hearing it, for the first time, in the wild 

 and unfrequented spots of some of the islands visitfed by him, 

 apprehending that the mysterious sounds proceeded from tribes 



