COLUMBA. 
The mournful notes of this bird greatly alarmed the crew 
of Bougainville, when in the neighbourhood of them, 
thinking they were the cries of the human fpecies. In 
France they were never obferved to lay eggs, nor in Hol¬ 
land, though they were kept for tome time; but Scopoii 
nffures us, that the male approaches the female with the 
head bent into the break, making a node more like low¬ 
ing than cooing, and that they not only made a nek on 
trees, in the menagery where they were kept, but laid 
eggs as large as thofe of a hen. The nett ’was compofed 
of hay and ltalks. The female never fat, but itbod upon 
the eggs; and he fuppofed it was from this caufe alone 
that there was no produce. They are faid to be kept in 
the Eatt Indies, in their court-yards, as domeftic poultry. 
The Dutch at the Moluccas call them crovjn-^vogei. M, 
Sonne rat; as well as Dampier, found them in plenty at 
New Guinea; and it is probable that they were origi¬ 
nally tranfported from that place into Banda, from whence 
the Dutch have been in the habit of procuring them. 
io. Columba chriftata, the c.reiled pigeon; iize of the 
common pigeon ; the bill is conical, black, and the un¬ 
der mandible yellow at the bafe ; irides yellow ; the head 
and neck black; on the forehead are fix very long black 
briftiy hairs, which Hand upright, or may be lowered at 
will; at the back part of the head is a crelt of a gilded 
red colour; the feathers which compofe it are hard and 
ltiff, and.the webs not united with each other; between 
the two crefts the fpace is white, forming a band acrofs 
the head ; the eyes are encircled with white ftiff feathers; 
the break and belly of a beautiful deep violet; the lelfer 
wing-coverts are brown ; the others, and lelfer quills, 
rufous white, croffed with undulated black lines; the 
greater quills are rufous, marked acrofs as the others ; 
the back, rump, and tail, are deep green; the legs yel¬ 
low ; the toes feparated to the origin. There is a variety 
of the crelted pigeon, not much differing, and probably 
the female; length tern inches; billyellowiki, with a black 
tip; hind part of the head crelted, as in the other, which 
is fuppofed to be the male. 
n. Columba albicapiila, the grey-headed pigeon ; lize 
of the common pigeon ; the bill of a dull red ; the irides 
3'ellow; upper part of the head dirty white; hind part 
and fides of the neck reddilh brown,, gloffed with gold ; 
the lelfer quills are of a bright green, with a metalline 
glofs, changeable in different lights; the greater quills 
and tail black; between the bend of the wing and the 
body is a femicircular fpot, compofed of feathers half 
green half grey; the rek of,the body green; legs a dull 
red. Native of the ille of Fanay. 
12. Columba pompadora, the pompadour pigeon ; lefs 
than the common pigeon; bill bluilh; cheeks and chin 
pale yellow; back, break, and belly, pale green ; wing- 
»coverts of a fine pompadour colour; quills black, edged 
■with yellow ; tail ol a light green, and long; legs red. In 
the female the colours are paler. Inhabit Ceylon, a«d are 
common in the country about Bengal, and other parts of 
India, where they are called coucla. They are alwaysfieen 
<on trees, never on the ground ; mokly on thole known by 
the name of war ingin grothebria, on the berries of which 
they delight to feed. They have a whittling note, very 
different from that of other pigeons; are good food, and 
are (hot by the Europeans for table. 
13. Columba erythroptera, the garnet pigeon ; length 
nine inches and a half; bill of a dulky yellow, in fome 
black; the forehead white; from thence palfes a llreak 
of the fame over each eye; the lower part of the neck, 
the fhoulders, and wing-coverts, are of a beautif ul deep 
garnet colour; the back between the wings, the quills, 
tail, lower part of the break, belly, and vent, are all 
black ; the tail, is two inches and a half long, and even 
at the end; legs brown. Native of the illand of Eimeo. 
There is a variety of this fpecies, about an inch longer ; 
found at Otaheite. Another variety, brought by our late 
voyagers from the illand of Tanna, fee ms between both 
the above. 
V.OL. IV. No. 241, 
817 
14. Columba Indica, the Amboyna pigeon ; fmaller 
than the common pigeon; bill fcarlet; nokrils bluilh; 
eyes of a dark colour; forehead white, and through the 
eye a llreak of the fame; top of the head bluilh; fides of 
the head, neck, and break, reddilh ; the upper part of the 
back, and wing-coverts, green gold, gloked with copper; 
ridge of the wing fpotted with white; lower part of the 
back, rump, and upper tail coverts, afli-colour; belly, 
thighs, and under tail coverts, reddilh brown; legs red : 
inhabits Amboyna in the Eall Indies. Of this I’pecies 
there is a variety, with the quills and tail feathers green $ 
wing-coverts violet; and the rump and vent blue. 
15. Columba purpurata, the purple-crowned pigeon ; 
length nine inches; billyellowiki; irides of a pale yel¬ 
low; forehead, to the middle of the crown, purple; the 
head, neck, and under parts of the body, pale green, in¬ 
clining to aki-colour; vent, and under tail coverts, yel¬ 
low ; all the upper parts of the body of a beautiful deep 
green, and very glolly; quills black, the two outer ones 
wholly fo ; the others edged with green ; the fecondaries 
fringed with yellow' on the outer margins; the tail is three 
inches and a half long; the feathers (omewhat pointed at 
the end; legs very rough, and of a dulky black. Of this 
fpecies there are feveral varieties, according to the dir-* 
ferent illands from which they are brought, for they in¬ 
habit the whole of the Pacific Ocean within the tropics. 
In Otaheite the crown is of a veiy faint purple; at Ulia- 
tea, and fome other illands, deeper; but the fpecimens 
found at Tongataboo, have the top of the head of an ex¬ 
ceeding deep and vivid purple, furrounded with yellow ; 
the bill dulky, irides yellow, vent almoft orange, and legs 
of a deep red. Among the others there are lome which 
have not the leak vekige of red on the crown ; but whe¬ 
ther thefe are of a different fex, young birds, or owing to 
difference of place, we are not informed. The beautiful 
green turtle dove, mentioned by Bougainville, is, per¬ 
haps, the fame bird with this. He alfo mentions pigeons 
of a green gold plumage, neck and belly of a greyifh white, 
and having a little crelt on their heads, as inhabiting fome 
of thele illands. 
16. Coiumba Jambu, the Jamboo pigeon; of a final! 
fize; bill yellow; fore part of the head of a deep pink ; 
back, wings, and tail, green ; break white, having green 
on one fide and pink on the other, half round the eye, 
which is large and yellow. It inhabits the illand of Java ; 
feeds on the berries of the rum-pooni, but will alio live 
on boiled rice and padda. 
iji Columba rubricapilla, the red-crowned m’geon; 
fize of the jacobin pigeon; bill grey; from the bale of the 
upper mandible is. a flelliy. membrane of a bright red co¬ 
lour, which wholly encircles the eyes; the irides have two 
circles, a large one of red, and a lelfer one of grey ; the 
top of the head is covered with {lender-feather's of a fine 
red colour, forming a kind of hood; the neck, upper 
parts of the back, and break, bluilh grey; the rek ot the 
body, and tail, of a velvety black, changing into violet 
and blue in different rerieflions of light; legs grey. This 
was found at Antigue, in the illeof Panay, by M. Sonnerat. 
iS. Columba purpurea, the purple pigeon ; fize of the 
Englilh wood-pigeon; front pale green; head and neck 
fine light purple ; break orange; back, fcapulars, and bel¬ 
ly, light green; vent fcarlet; quills dulky. It inhabits 
the illand of Java, where it is called jooan, ir-omjoo, which 
fignifies green in the Javan and Malayan languages. Mr. 
Loten mentions, that.he has known more than eighteen 
or twenty varieties of thefe wood-pigeons on the illands 
of Java, Celebes, and Ceylon ; fome as big as a final! hen, 
of a beautiful white, with black wings and tail; lome 
bluilh green; fome entirely of a dark- beautiful red; be¬ 
tween Icarlet and carmine ; and lome alio like our Euro- 
ropean turtles. 
19. Columba Eimeenfis, the purple breaked pigeon; a 
fmall fpecies, in length only fourteen inches; bill .black; 
fides of the head beneath the eyes d alley; the forehead, 
throat, and fore part of the.neck, of a pale vinaceoua'Co-> 
9 T lour 5 
