44 



LABRADOR PIGEON. 



Dieman's Land : its total length is about eleven 

 inches : the forehead is of a bright red ; the occi- 

 put is marked with a grey-white spot ; and a stripe 

 of chocolate originating behind the eyes, forming 

 a kind of diadem ; there is another band of pure 

 white, and much narrower, reaching down the 

 side of the neck : the space between the beak and 

 the eye is brown : the nape, the scapulars, and a 

 large patch on the upper part of the breast, are of 

 a chocolate colour; the sides of the neck, the 

 breast, the belly, and abdomen are of a fine deep 

 grey : the back, the rump, and the small coverts 

 of the wings, are of an olive-brown colour : the 

 middle coverts are ornamented with two broad 

 transverse bands of colour, having the richness of 

 precious stones, the superior one possessing the 

 tints of the ruby and opal, and the lower those of 

 the sapphire and emerald ; the brilliant feathers 

 are terminated with a beautiful silvery white : the 

 greater and lesser quills are red on their interior 

 w^ebs for three-fourths of their length, their points 

 and exterior webs are brown ; the inner part of 

 the wing is of a dusky red : the tail-feathers on 

 their interior webs and part of the exterior are 

 grey, with a black band passing across, which 

 is terminated with brownish : the tail is somewhat 

 rounded ; it is composed of fourteen feathers : the 

 feet are red ; and the beak black. 



