THE BIRDS OF SINGAPORE ISLAND 
boughs, and scattered nee on the ground all round him : in a 
short time the birds flew down to feed on the grain, and settled 
so close to his hiding-place that, quietly putting- out his hand, 
he was able to catch them one after another, the sudden and 
stran^i^e disappearance of one of their number not in the least 
alarming the others". 
Other Pigeons 
And now, we must refer to yet three other species without 
mention of which no book on Singapore birds would be 
complete. 
The '*pergam" or green imperial pigeon (Muscadivores 
mnea) is sometimes to be seen here, hut we suspect that the 
birds are always visitors attracted to the island from Johore, 
or from the Dutch islands where it is numerous, by the fruiting 
* of certain trees, for the pergam is entirely a fruit -cater. 
Personally we have seen ^'e^y few on the island but it is by 
nature a shy bird, not courting the society of man like the 
doves and it was no doubt more numerous in years gone by, 
Ottr sporting friend Mr, G. P, Owen writes: — **The pergam, 
a magnificent large pigeon, is also to be had [f,f . in Singapore] 
though difficult to bring down as he flies high and has strong 
feathers. Xo. 4 shot is generally required. Not far from the 
Impounding Reservoir a large wild hg-tree, standing in thick 
jungle about eighty feet high, was in fnll fruit, and attracted 
numbers of pergam. Not having any No, 4 shot, my friend 
D, Maw climbed up the tree, and shot many with snipe shot 
as they circled about. Although frequently shot at, they 
retuniedf and continued to circle about for quite a long time*\ 
The reader who wishes to see pergam must leave the 
busy parts of the island and get to those less frequented spots 
on the 0]>posite coasts, or in the interior where the heavy 
limber grows, 
This is by far the largest pigeon with which we have as 
yet dealt and in flight looks quite as bulky as the vvood-pigeon 
of Europe. The head, neck and underparts are very pale 
grey with an exceedingly faint flush of pink. The wings, back 
and tail are metallic green with bronze rejections. 
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