dOAP. 3txiv.] THE NICOBAR PIGEON, 



345 



feeder, only going upon trees to roost, and is a very 

 heavy fleshy biriL This may account for the fact of its 

 being found chietiy on very small islands, while in the 

 ■western half of tiie Archipelago, it seems entirely absent 

 from the larger ones. Being a gionnd feeder it is subject 

 to the attacTcs of caniivoroias quadrupeds, which are not 

 found in the very stnall islands. Its wide distribution over 

 the whole length of the Archipelago, fmtn extreme west to 

 east, is however very extraordinary, since, with the excep- 

 tion of a few of the birds of prey, not a single land bird 

 has so wide a riinge. Ground-feeding birtls are generally 

 deficient in power of extended flight, and this species is so 

 bulky and heavy that it, appears at iirst sight quite unable 

 to fly a mile. A closer examination shows, however, tliat 

 its wings are remarkably large, perhaps in proportion to 

 ita size larger than those of any other pigeon, and its 

 pectoral miiscles are immense. A fact communicated to 

 me by the son of my friend Mr. T>uivenboden of Ternate, 

 would show that, in accordance witli tliese peculiarities of 

 structure, it possesses the power of flying long distances. 

 Mr. D. estahiijshed an oil factory on a small coi-al island, a 

 hundred miles north of New Guinea, with no intervening 

 land. After the i.sland had been settled a year, and 

 traversed in every direction, bi.s son paid it a visit ; 

 and just as the schooner was coniing to an anchor, a bird 

 was seen flying from seaward which fell into the water 

 exhausted before it could reach the shore, A boat was 

 sent to pick it up, and it was found to be a Kicobar 

 pigeon, which must have come from New Guinea, and 

 flown a hundred miles, since no such bird previously 

 inhabited the island. 



This is certainly a very curious case of adaptation to 

 an unusual and exceptional necessity. The bird does 

 not ordinarily require great powers of flight, since it 

 lives in the forest, feeds on fallen fruits, and roosts 

 in low trees like other ground pigeons. Tl;e majority 

 of the individuals, therefore, can never make full use 

 of their enormously powerful wings, till the exceptional 

 case occurs of an individual being blown out to sea, 

 or driven to emigmte by tiie incursion of some carnivo- 

 rous animal, or the pressure of scarcity of food, A 



