165 



NESOENAS SALVAD. 



SOLES normal, not very broad, only the hind toe with the skin prominently 

 expanded on the sides. First primary about equal to the sixth. Tail 

 entirely rufous, composed of twelve feathers. 



NESOENAS MAYERI (PREVOST). 



(Plate 3, Fig. 3.) 



Columba mayeri Provost & Knip, Pigeons II, pi. 6o (1843). 



Columba meyeri Schlegel & Pollen, Recti. Faun. Mad. p. 111, pi. 36 (1868). 



Peristera meyeri G. R. Gray, Gen. B. Ill App. p. 24 (1849). 



Carpophaga meyeri G. R. Gray, fide Bp. Consp. Av. II p. 45 (1854). 



Trocaza meyeri Bonaparte, Consp. Av. II p. 45 (1854). 



Trocaza meijeri Pollen, N.T.D. I p. 318 (1863). 



Nesoenas mayeri Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vol. XXI p. 327 (1893). 



THE following is the description by Salvadori in the " Catalogue of 

 Birds " : — " Head, neck and underparts pale pink, fading into whitish 

 towards the forehead, cheeks and upper throat, and passing into rather 

 darker pink on the mantle ; remainder of the upper back and the entire wings 

 brown, with a slight shade of olive and rufous ; lower back and rump greyish, 

 the latter mottled with chestnut ; upper tail coverts and tail cinnamon, the 

 outer tail feathers fading into buff on the outer webs and towards the tips; 

 undertail-coverts pink, like the mantle ; undersurface of the wings ashy brown, 

 slightly pale on the axillaries, and under wing-coverts iris yellow ; bill yellow, 

 shaded with red towards the base ; legs red (fide Shelley). Total length about 

 15-5 inches, wing 8 5, tail 6*5, bill 86, tarsus 13." 



In the live bird the pink soon fades away almost entirely, and the olive 

 shade on the wings is strongly developed. 



This bird was not found by the Rev. H. H. Slater, during his visit to 

 Mauritius. As observed by Mons. Paul Carie (Ornis XII, p. 127), the 

 idea that it is extinct is, however, incorrect, as it can still easily be 

 procured, though it is rare. M. Georges Antelme, of Mauritius, possesses 

 the eggs of this pigeon. That it still exists is also evident from two 

 specimens which were sent to the Zoological Gardens, London, last year, 

 and are still living there. 

 Habitat : Mauritius. 



