R A S R E S. 



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Mr. Peale observes : 



" This fine bird was seen at the Philippine Islands, but subsequently 

 found in greater abundance at the Island of Mangsi, in the Straits of 

 Balabac, during the month of February. We had previously seen 

 them living in confinement, and, as the generic name {Geophilus), 

 implies, observed that they preferred being on the ground, and seldom 

 perched on trees or the roosts of an aviary. It was, therefore, a 

 matter of surprise, at Mangsi, to find them decidedly arboreal : not 

 a single specimen was seen on the ground, although the island was 

 diligently hunted with that expectation. They were found on lofty 

 Ficus and other fruit-trees of great magnitude, feeding with the Nutmeg 

 Pigeons {Carpophaga amea), but generally at a less elevation. Their 

 call is a clear, deep-toned coo, in a voice very like some of the owls. 



" Irides red ; legs purple lake-red ; under parts of the toes and nails 

 yellow." 



Some of the most beautiful and apparently fully mature specimens 

 of this bird that have ever come under our notice, are in the collec- 

 tion of the Expedition. They are in excellent preservation, and are 

 conspicuous objects even in the magnificent collection of this family 

 which graces the National Museum. 



5. Genus PERISTERA, Swainson, Zool. Jour. Ill, p. 360 (1827). 

 1. Peristera erythroptera [Gmelin). The Garnet-winged Pigeon. 



Columba erythroptera, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 775 (1788). 



Columha leucophrys, FoEST. Desc. An. p. 168 (1844). 



Columha panipusan, QuoY et Gaim. Voy. Uranie, Zool. p. 121 (1824). 



Peristera pecioralis, Peale, Voy. Vincennes and Peacock, Birds, p. 205 (1848).* 



Temm. & Knip, Pig. Plate LV ; Voy. Uranie, Birds, Plate XXX. 



* "Body robust; head, neck, and breast fulvous, palest on tbe forehead; nape dark 

 purple ; scapulars dark olive-green, having a golden iridescence ; wings, body, and tail, 

 sepia-brown, inclining to dark gray on the upper surfaces of the tail-feathers and quills ; 

 quill-feathers arcuate, the third one longest ; shafts brown ; tail rounded, consisting of 

 twelve feathers, and extending one inch beyond the closed wings ; claws short, nearly 

 straight, and black ; irides reddish-brown ; feet and legs large, and of a reddish-brown ; 

 bill black. 



" Total length eight and one-half inches ; tail four and one-half inches ; extent across 

 the wings, fifteen and one-half inches ; bill eleven-twentieths of an inch. Female." 



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