658 
Birds of Celebes: Peristeridae 
“Mahawa”, Banka Island (N. of Celebes), Dresden Mus. 
“Burong mas” (Gold Bird), Malay name in Great Sangi, Hickson 2.9. 
For further synonymy and references cf. Salvadori .39. 
Figures and^ descriptions. (Albin a/; Edwards a 77; Bonn, b II; Hayes bill; Vieillot 
b T ; Levaillant c 7; Bcbb. F]; Knip b IV; Gray & HardAvicke d I; Selby e I; 
Hume 13; Salvadori 23, 39; Oates 24 (ex Hume). 
Adult. Metallic gi’cen, with coppery reflections, duller beloAv; cervix clothed with hackle- 
feathers of great length, green and blue; head all round, nape and upper breast 
blackish, the sides of the head and the upper breast glossed with blue; remiges, 
outer upper wing-coverts and carpal edge blue, blending with the green of the 
back, the outer primaries brownish black; tail and longer under tail-coverts 
pure white; remiges below and inner under wing-coverts dusky brown: “mis deep 
broAvn, bill, cere and fleshy protuberance at the base of the culmen dark blackish 
grey or deejA slaty; legs and feet varying from pinkish lake to duU puiphsh lilac, 
claws chrome yellow, the soles dull greyish yellow” — Hume 13 (Siao: Meyer — 
Nr. 13833). 
Female. “Similar to "the male, but smaller, narrow feathers of the neck shorter, and also the 
frontal knob smaller” (Salvad. .39). 
Young. The long cervical hackle-feathers wanting; tail blackish glossed with blue; “iris 
grey-brown, bill black, tip pale, feet black-broAvn” {(f juv., Puerto Princesa, Palawan, 
4.- Nov. 87: Platen — Nr. 13190). 
Measurements. Wing ca. 250 mm; tail 95; tarsus 46; exposed bill 26. 
Fgg. I in number, wliite, .shell very finely jiitted, almost glossless: size 47 X 32 mm (Hume 
34 Batty Malve, Nicobars). Size 43 X 33 mm (Nehrkorn Coll, from the Berlin 
Zoolog. Gardens). 
Nest. A platform of twigs, very loosely and carelessly put together, in bushy trees, usually 
20 to 30 feet from the ground (Davison 13, 34). 
Distribution. Nicobars (Hume & Davison 13, etc.): Andamans (Blyth 3, Davison 13); 
Cocos (Phayre fi'de Blyth 72, 25), Mergui Is. (Heifer fide Blyth 25); Noordwachter 
Id. in Java bea (Vorderman 35); Satonda Id. (Doherty 42); small islands off 
Billiton, e. g. Pido Lima (Vorderman 35, 3G); Labuan (Low 16); Tega Is., near 
Borneo (Whitehd. 30, 31); Mantanani Is. near Bonieo (Everett 30); Mangsi Id. 
(Peale 30); Palawan (Platen 28, 30); Mndoro (Steere' 55); Negros, Tawi-Tawi 
and Sooloo (Bourns & Worcester 41); Sibutu, Sooloo Is. (Everett 40); Great 
Sang! (Meyer 18, 25, Hickson 2,9); Siao (Meyer 25); Banka (Dresd. Mus.); Mina- 
hassa (v. Musschenbr. 75); “some small islands near Macassar” /Wallace f 1); 
Moluccas — Ceram, Obi, Batcliian, Xaioa, Ternate, Halmahera, Mortv; Papuasia — 
Waigiou, Salarvatti, Koffiao, Peeau near Mysol, N.W.Penins. of New Guinea, Jobi, 
Miosnom, Mafoor, Mysore, Kei Is., Huon Gulf in 8. E. New Guinea, Port Moresby, 
Debojme Id., Ludovician Id., Duchateau Id., Normanby Id., Credner Id., Louisiade 
Is., New Leland, Duke of York, Anchorite Is., Solomon Islands (fide Salvadori 25, 
38, 39); Trobriand and Eguni Is. (Meek 42); New Britain (fide B. Geisler). 
I he Nicobar Pigeon is the sole representa tive of its genus Caloenas, and 
subfamily Caloenadinae, if we except the closely allied local form, C. pelewends 
of the Pelew' Islands, which Count Salvadori holds distinct on account of its 
smaller size and bluer tints. In appearance its stout heavy body, strong legs, 
and the lustrous hackles of its neck are strongly suggestive of the Gallinae, but 
