r 
* Birds of Celebes: Peristeiidae. 651 
53, 54)\ Kangean (Vorderman ffS); Tagulaiidang, Ruaug, Talaut, Peling (Nat. 
Coll, in Dresden and Tring Miiseuuis); Sooloo (Platen 48, 64). 
I Oelebesian Province: — South Celebes (P. & F. Sarasin 69, Everett 71)\ 
! Minabassa (Meyer 28, Guillemard 38)\ Malibagu in Bolaang Old Distr. (P. & F. 
Sarasin); Gorontalo Distr. (Meyer 28, Riedel 35); W. Celebes (Doherty 72); 
Togian (Meyer 28); Banka, Mantehage and Manado tua (Nat. Coll.); Tagulandang 
and Ruang (iid.); Siao (Hoedt 15, Duivenb. 15, Nat. Coll.); Great Sangi (Hoedt 15, 
Platen g 1, Meyer, and Nat. Coll, in Dresden Mus.); Talaut Islands (Nat. Coll. 
" in Dresden and Tring Mus.); Sula Islands: Sxda Besi and Sula Mangoli (Allen/’ 2, 
Bernstein 15, Hoedt 15); PeUng (Nat. Coll, in Dresd. and Tring Mus. 70). 
I 
The Beetle-wing, as Indian ornithologists sometimes call this Ground-dove, 
was described over a hundred and fifty years ago by Edwards, who speaks 
of it as the most beautiful of the Dove-kind in his opinion that he had ever 
seen. It is very questionable even now whether any before- or since-disco vexed 
Columbine types can claim to surpass it, beautiful as are, for instance, the 
I Golden Doves [Chrysoenas) of Fiji, the Nicobar Pigeon, the Crowned Pigeons of 
I the Papuan Islands and above all Otidiphaps from New Guinea. Its voice is 
as pleasing as its plumage; a passage, quoted by G. D. Rowley (X.XI) from 
Sir J. Emerson Tennent, reads: “its soft and melancholy notes as they came 
[ from some solitary place in the forest, were the most gentle sounds I ever 
I listened to”; Eegge speaks of its cry as “a melodious though deep unpigeon- 
1^ like coo”. As cage-birds they are much appreciated by the Malays, who, by 
i’ imitating their call-note with a peculiar instrument described by Burbidge (27), 
! lure them to their capture in a sort of wigwam of leafy boughs; they are said 
to become tame quickly in captivity and have also been imported into European 
' Zoological Gardens. Another good, though less aesthetic, qualification is men- 
tioned by Whitehead (46) and Hagen (50), namely, that they are very 
good eating. 
It is not generally known, apparently, that this Pigeon is to some extent 
a local migrant, or at all events shifts its quarters in some parts according to 
the season. Thus, in the Travancore Hills, Mr. Bourdillon (19) found that 
it descends to the lower jungles in winter, while in a part of Ceylon Mr. 
Holds worth (13) observed that it frequents the jungle at the end of the year 
in great numbers. In some parts of the East Indies the migratory movement 
is more pronounced; in Labuan and on the opposite coast of Borneo it is, 
as stated by Mr. Burbidge (27) and Mr. Whitehead (46), a summer visitor, 
arriving with the S. E. Monsoon in April; and Mr. Whitehead also says (45) 
that in Palawan it was very common when he first arrived in the island in 
June, but by September none were to be met with. In other quarters its 
range has undergone variation within the memory of man, for Mr. Reid (30) 
was informed by an “old shikaree” that the latter caught them when a boy in 
the Lucknow division of India, a district where it does not now occur. In 
Celebes it appears to have become commoner of late years; five and twenty 
.» 82 * 
I 
