1845.] Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 869 



imate certain of the Macropygice of the Eastern Archipelago, as M. 

 Reinwardtii. To the last named group, one Indian species apper- 

 tains. 



MACROPYGIA, Swainson : Coccyzura, Hodgson. (Cuckoo-doves.) 



The species of this division are remarkable for their very broad, long, 

 and much graduated, tail, and general Cuckoo-like figure. They chiefly 

 inhabit the great Eastern Archipelago, a single species occurring in the 

 Himalaya, and another in Australia. For the most part, they are con- 

 fined to rocky upland forests, and subsist much on berries, often des- 

 cending to the ground to pick up fallen mast and fruits : upon being 

 disturbed, their great broad tail shews to much advantage, as they rise. 

 The species of the Archipelago are very injurious to the pepper and 

 other spice plantations ; and their flesh is highly esteemed for the table, 

 from the fine flavour said to be imparted to it by the various aromatic 

 berries on which they feed. 



M. leptogrammica. Col. leptogrammica, Temminck, pi. col. 248 : 

 Coccizura tusalia, Hodgson, Journ. As. Soc. XIII, p. 936. (Rayed 

 Cuckoo-dove.) Upper-parts dusky, with numerous narrow rufous bars 

 on the mantle, wings, rump, and upper tail- coverts ; tail more obscurely 

 barred in the male : forehead, chin, and throat, whitish, tinged with lake : 

 the occiput, neck, and breast, dull pale vinaceous, glossed (less brightly on 

 the breast) with changeable green and amethystine-purple : lower- parts 

 yellowish-albescent, the under tail-coverts pale buff; all but the four 

 middle tail-feathers ashy, with a broad black subterminal band ; and above 

 this band, the exterior web of the outermost tail-feather is whitish. 

 Female having the tail barred with narrow rufous cross-lines, like the rest 

 of the upper- parts ; and the fore-neck and breast are similarly rayed with 

 alternate dusky and pale buff. The tail-feathers, more especially of the 

 female, have their inner webs rufous at base. Bill black : cere, orbits, 

 and legs, red. Wings seven and a half to eight inches ; middle tail- 

 feathers the same, the outermost four inches and a half. 



The above descriptions are taken from a fine characteristic male and 

 female : considerable variation of plumage occurring, as many specimens 

 are in different degrees intermediate. This bird inhabits the eastern 

 Himalaya, and is common at Darjeeling. 



TURTUR, Selby. (The Turtle-doves.) (G'hoogoo, Bengal ; Fachtah, 

 H. ; Gya, Arracan.) 



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