COLUMBINE. 
alight, but the next moment, as if suddenly alarmed, they take to wing, producing, by the flapping of their wings, a 
noise like the roar of distant thunder, and sweep through the forests to see if any danger is near. Hunger, however, 
brings them to the ground. When alighted, tliey are seen industriously throwing up the withered lea\'es in quest of 
fallen mast. The rear ranks are continually rising, passing over the main body, and alighting in front, in such rapid 
succession, that the whole flock seems still on wing. The quantity of ground thus swept is astonishing, and so com- 
pletely has it been cleared, that the gleaner who might follow in the rear would find his labour completely lost." 
The nest, which is also built in company with numerous others, is composed of small twigs carelessly placed together, 
and the female deposits thereon two eggs. 
1. E. migratorius (Linn.) Swains. Temm. Pig. t. 48, 4-9. — 
Columba canadensis Linn. Wils. Amer. Orn. pi. 44. f. 1. 
2. E. maryinatus (Linn.) Tcmm. Pig. t. 50. — Columba caro- 
linensis Linn. 
Geopelia Swains.* 
Bill moderate, straight, and very slender, with the apical half of the upper mandible shghtly curved 
to the tip ; the nostrils placed in the middle of the bill, and longitudinal. Wings short and rounded, 
with the first quill generally narrowed towards the tip, and the third and fourth the longest. Tail 
lengthened, and graduated on the sides. Tarsi the length of the middle toe, and scutellated. Toes long, 
the lateral ones nearly equal. 
The habits of the Inrds that form this division are veiled in obscurity. They are found in the jungles and forests 
of the continent of India, its archipelagos, and the continent of Australia. 
1. G. humeralis (Temm.) PI. col. I9I. — Columba erythrauchen 
Wagl. 
2. G. striata (Linn.) — Columba sinica Linn.; Columba ma- 
laccensis Gmel. Temm. Pig. t. 47- ; Columba Fowat Bonn. 
3. G. cuneata (Lath.) — Columba Macquarrie Quoy S^- Gaim, Voy. 
de rUranie, Ois. t. 31. 
4. G. Maugeus (Temm.) Temm. Pig. t. .12. 
Macropygia Sivains.-\ 
Bill short, slender, and slightly arched at the tip of the upper mandible ; the nostrils placed near the 
middle of the bill. Wings lengthened and rounded, with the first and second quills graduated, and 
much shorter than the third, which is the longest. Tail very long and graduated, with the feathers 
broad. Tarsi plumed below the knee, and the length of the hind toe. Toes long, the lateral ones 
equal ; and the claws moderate and somewhat curved. 
These birds live most frequently in pairs, on the crests of high rocks, in the large forests of the Philippine and Molucca 
Islands, Java, &c., from which they make excursions into the plantations of pepper, the berries of which they swallow 
entire. Great depredations are committed by them on the seed before it is ripe, and on numerous other kinds of spicy 
plants. The various aromatic berries of these islands impart an agreeable flavour to their flesh, which makes them much 
sought after by epicures as a great delicacy. 
1. M. amhoinensis (Linn.) — Columba phasianella Temm. Vl. 
col. 100. 
2. M. unchall (Wagl.). Syst. Av. Columb. sp. 38. 
3. M. leptogrammica (Temm.) PL col. 248. 
4. M. macrura (Gmel.) PI. enl. 329. 
6. M. ruficeps (Temm.) PL col. 56l., Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 36. 
6. M. modcsta (Temm.) PI. col. 552., Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 31. 
7. M. Reinwardtii (Temm.) Swains. PI. col. 248., Knip et Prev. 
Pig. t. 11. 
8. M. mnnnflcnsis (Quoy & Gaim.) Voy. de I'Astrol. Zool. 1. 
248. t. 30. Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 46. 
* Established by Mr. Swainson {Clas.s. of Birds, ii. 348.) in 1837. 
I Established by Mr. Swainson {Class, of Birds, ii. 348.) in 1837- 
