231 
Differing again from all the foregoing is a partial albino obtained at Ngunguru and sent to me by 
Capt. Mair. In this bird the shoulders, hack, rump, and upper tail-coverts have a rich appearance, the white 
predominating. Some of the wing-feathers and their coverts are wholly white, with bronzed edges and clouded 
with grey, while others again present the normal coloration. The distribution of colours, however, is 
quite irregular, the white largely predominating in the right wing. 
In the Natural History Museum of the Jardin des Plantes there is a curious variety, from the collection 
of MM. Hombron and Jacquinot, marked “ Akaroa, $ In place of the bronzy green the general plumage 
is dark cinnamon-brown, shaded with vinous brown on the smaller wing-coverts ; underparts white with a 
slight wash of cinnamon which is darker on the under tail-coverts. The wing-feathers are uniform 
cinnamon-brown ; so are the tail-feathers, but these are darker in their central portion and have whitish 
tips. Bill and feet yellow. This is, I believe, the type of Carpophaga spadicea leucoplicea of those naturalists. 
This was suggested by me in my former edition (p. 158), hut I had not at that time examined and identified 
the bird, as I have since done. 
Remarks. The head is small, the neck of moderate length, and the body full, with a prominent and rounded 
breast ; the primaries graduate upwards to the third and fourth, which are generally of equal length; the 
fifth is slightly shorter, and the rest are rapidly diminished ; the secondaries are broad and rounded ; the 
tail-feathers large and even, forming together an ample fan when the tail is expanded. The plumage is thick 
and compact, and each feather is furnished with a dense undergrowth of downy plumules of extreme fine- 
ness, which branch laterally from both sides of the shaft. This peculiarity is most fully developed in the 
long plumage of the back, where only the tips of the feathers assume the surface character. By this wise 
provision of nature, the bird is perfectly clothed in a thick undercovering of soft down, and much warmth 
imparted to the body. The tarsus is completely concealed. On moving the lowest feathers, however, two 
broad scutella are exposed ; on the middle toe there are 11 scutella, on the outer toe 10, on the inner toe 7, 
and on the hind toe 4. 
On some specimens, particularly young birds, a fine white powder, like pulverized chalk, is observable 
on the feathers of the head and hind neck. I noticed this in a very pronounced degree, and extending to the 
back, in a bird which I shot on the Pirongia Range in the month of November — so much so as to leave a 
distinct chalk-mark on any dark object brought into contact with it. It is evidently an emanation from the 
skin, and doubtless serves some useful purpose in the natural economy of the bird. 
Op the large and well-defined group of fruit-eating Pigeons found dispersed over the sea-girt lands of 
the southern hemisphere, the single species inhabiting New Zealand is undoubtedly one of the finest 
both for size and brilliancy of plumage. 
In its native country it is less esteemed for its beauty than for its value as an article of food ; 
and to both Maoris and colonists, in every part of New Zealand, pigeon-shooting, at certain seasons 
of the year, affords agreeable recreation, while to many it is a source of profitable employment. 
Owing to the loud beating of its wings in its laboured flight it is readily found, even in the thickest 
part of the bush, and being naturally a stupid bird it is very easily shot ; so that in a favourable 
locality it is not an unusual thing for a sportsman single-handed to bag fifty or more in the course of 
a morning. In some districts the slaughter has been so great during a productive season that the 
Pigeons have never afterwards recovered their numbers ; but in most of our woods, notwithstanding 
this persistent persecution, they reappear in each successive year in undiminished plenty. The 
Bush and presented by him to the Colonial Museum : — “ Head, neck, and fore part of breast, which in ordinary specimens are 
shining gold-green, are here thickly strewn with white feathers. On the fore neck the coppery purple band is replaced by a 
largo patch of pure white feathers. The nape, shoulder, and upper surface of wings are also thickly strewn with white feathers ; 
back and uropygium have likewise very white patches, but getting fewer towards the latter portion. The bright green of the 
breast is succeeded by a band of pale grey, which fades as it approaches the abdomen. Quills and tail-feathers normal colour. 
In no instance is a parti-coloured feather to be found, the white feathers being pure ; even the shafts are destitute of colour. 
Eyes pink, with carmine-red as is usual; feet paler than customary; the soles flesh-colour rather than yellow; bill normal 
colour.” (Trans. N.-Z. Inst. vol. xviii. p. 129.) 
2 H 2 
