32 



2 



Like the other two species of Pigeon inhabiting these islands, it is an inhabitant of the true 

 forest, frequenting the wilder and more inaccessible localities, whither it has been driven owing 

 to the persecution it has met with ; for when the islands were first discovered it is stated to have 

 been eminently trustful and fearless. Messrs. Webb and Berthelot say that it " is seldom found 

 away from the forest, where its food is to be found ; this consists of the berries of the laurel 

 (Lanrus indica), and occasionally of tender buds of the mocan (Visnea mocanera), as we have 

 ascertained by dissecting several specimens. This food, especially the berries of the laurel, 

 impregnates the flesh of these birds with an aromatic perfume, and gives it a slight bitter taste, 

 which is by no means disagreeable; and this Pigeon is justly looked on as one of the daintiest 

 of our birds : nor is this opinion as to its fitness for the table new ; for we find the same views 

 expressed in the Middle Ages. In the history of the navigators who left Lisbon in 3 341, under 

 the auspices of Alphonse IV. of Portugal, we read that on one of the Canary isles (Gomere) 

 they found in the forests wild Pigeons, which they knocked down with sticks and stones, and 

 ate. ' And these Pigeons,' they say, ' were larger than ours, and tasted as good, if not better, et 

 in eddem insuld lignce jilurimce et palumbes, qiios baculis et lapidibus capieiant et comedehant, 

 invenerunt. Hos dicunt majores nostris et gustui tales aut meliores? It is, however, now no 

 longer so easy to procure these Pigeons ; for having been persecuted they have become "wild, and 

 one can only get at them on the tops of the large trees where they are accustomed to perch. 

 They are easiest killed at their drinking-places ; for the forests are too dense to allow one to 

 shoot them flying. We have frequently heard them overhead without being able to distinguish 

 them, owing to the foliage amongst which they were perched." 



I have only seen one specimen of this rare Pigeon, that in the British Museum, which is 

 the specimen described above, and figured ; but Mr, God man, who examined the type in the 

 Paris Museum, says that it agrees closely with this bird, both showing the peculiar character in 

 the coloration of the terminal portion of the tail. 



It is to be hoped that some collector who may hereafter visit the Canaries will endeavour 

 to obtain more specimens, and to gather further information, beyond what little we at present 

 know, respecting the habits of this rare Pigeon. 



