18 



BRONZE-WINGED PIGEON. 



their extremities, of a splendid bronzed copper, 

 varying according to the position of the light to 

 different tinges of red and green ; this passes in 

 the form of a double band across the wings : the 

 smaller and middle coverts have also several ir- 

 regular patches of the same colour, and they are 

 terminated with greyish yellow: the secondary 

 quills have some brilliant greenish purple spots : 

 the primaries are tipped with a beautiful pearl- 

 aceous white : the under parts of the body are 

 greyish, with a reddish tinge on the breast: the 

 inside of the wings is of a ferruginous red : the 

 tail is composed of eighteen grey feathers, having 

 a black band towards their tip ; the two inter- 

 mediate feathers are the colour of the body j the 

 under part of the tail is greyish ash, with a trans- 

 verse dusky bar across each feather : the beak is 

 dusky, except the base, which is reddish : the feet 

 are red. The female has a white spot on the fore- 

 head, the rest of the head is of an ashy-grey, 

 which is also the predominating colour of the bird, 

 and all the colours are less brilliant than in the 

 male ; all the feathers are edged with whitish 

 yellow : the spot on the wings is not of the bril- 

 liant ruby hue of the male, but more inclining to 

 a metallic green ; all the other spots are like- 

 wise of that tinge. The young are of a dusky 

 grey, and the whole of the feathers are bordered 

 with an earthy brown : the forehead and throat 

 are whitish, and the wing spots are very dull, with 

 a slight tinge of green. 



This is one of the most brilliant of the whole 



