TAMBOUR PIGEON. 



63 



Le Vaillant was induced to give this the name 

 it bears, from the circumstance of its cooing re- 

 sembling the sound of a tambourine at a distance : 

 it is an active species, and wild : its nest is built 

 in the great African woods on the summit of 

 trees : it is nine inches and a quarter in length : 

 the forehead, superciliae, and the whole of the 

 under parts of the body are pure white : the upper 

 part of the head, the hinder part of the neck, and 

 the shoulders are of an earthy-brov/n : the v/ing- 

 coverts nearest the body are spotted with blue- 

 black, with a green reflection : the quills are 

 rufous on their interior webs, and brov\/n on the 

 outer ; the outer feather is the shortest of all, 

 and its extremity is injured on the outer web : 

 the rump is of a grey-brown, with two darker 

 bands : the tail is composed of twelve feathers ; 

 the six middle ones are of a red-brown ; the fol- 

 lowing one on each side is of that colour on the 

 outer web, its inner web is grey at the base, and 

 tipped with black ; the two lateral feathers on 

 each side are grey at their bases, and black to- 

 wards their extremities ; the tip is grey : the feet 

 are yellow: the beak and iris are brown. The 

 female is of a dirty white in those parts where the 

 male is pure white ; in other respects the sexes 

 are similar. Inhabits CafFraria. 



