8 i8 
COLUMBA. 
lour; the crown, and hind part of the neck, dulky brown, 
with a greenifh tinge, fides of the neck brown, changing 
into a gloffy purple or lake colour as it advances down¬ 
wards, uniting on both tides to form a bar of the fame 
colour on the breaft; the wing-coverts are of the fame 
beautiful colour as the bar on the breaft. Native of the 
ifland of Eimeo. 
2b. Columba vernans, the parrot pigeon; fize of the 
common pigeon; bill biackifh, with a yellow tip; the 
head and throat are olive green ; irides compofed of two 
circles ; the outer red, tire inner blue ; neck pale cbefnut, 
inclining to vinaceous; back, rump, fides, and upper tail 
coverts, olive green ; wing-coverts the fame, but the 
greater ones are tipped with brimftone colour, making a 
lpot on the wing ; the breaft is orange ; belly and thighs 
pale olive green, inclining to yellow, growing paler to¬ 
wards the vent, where it is yellow ; the under tail coverts 
are rufous ; the quills are biackifh above, and afh-coloured 
beneath, edged with yellow ; legs red. In the female, the 
head, neck, and upper parts of the body, are of a greyifh 
green; the breaft and belly yellowifh green; the tail black. 
They inhabit the iflands of Manilla and Panay, 
21. Columba aromatica, the aromatic pigeon; length 
ten inches and a half; bill greenifh ; the upper part of the 
head is light grey before, deeper behind : the fides, throat, 
neck, breaft, belly, rump, upper tail coverts, and tail, are 
olive green, inclining to yellow on the neck and breaft; 
the under part of the tail is black at the bafe, and dirty 
white at the end, the under tail coverts yellowifh white; 
back, and wing-coverts, fine chefnut; the tips of fome 
of them yellowifh, forming a band on the wing; quills 
black, edged with yellow. Native of Amboyna. 
22. Columba St. Thomte, the St. Thomas’s pigeon; 
tipper bill hooked, the foremoft half of a blue colour, mix¬ 
ed with a little white and yellow, the hindmoft of a fan- 
guine ; eyes black, with a circle of blue ; the whole body 
is covered with green feathers like a parrot; the prime 
feathers of the wings are'dufkifh, as is alio the end of the 
tail; under the vent it hath yellow feathers; legs and feet 
-of an elegant iaffron colour. Inhabits the ifland of St, 
Thomas. 
23. Columba curviroftra, the hook-billed pigeon; length 
feven inches and a half; the bill fharply carinated on the 
top, and incurvated at the end; the bafe of it red, the 
reft yellow ; the general colour of the bird is green ; on 
the wings are two yeliow bars; the back and flioulders 
fine reddifh chefnut; the under tail coverts ferruginous ; 
the vent white; the tail is rounded, and the two middle 
feathers green; the others dark afh-colour, with a bar of 
black near the end. A variety, fuppofed to be the female, 
differs in having the back and flioulders green; and the 
under tail coverts white, as well as the vent. Thefe birds 
■were met with, by our late voyagers, in the ifland of Tan- 
na, in the South Seas. 
24. Columba Pacifica, the pigeon of the Friendly Ifles; 
length thirteen inches and a half; bill black; the head 
and neck of a light afh-colour; chin nearly white; the 
tipper parts of the body brown, with a glofs of green ; 
the breaft buff, with a vinaceous tinge; the belly afli-co- 
lour, verging to brown down the middle ; quills dark 
brown, with greenifh edges ; the tail black, with a green¬ 
ifh glofs ; legs red ; in lome brown or dufky. Native of 
the Friendly Ifles, in the South Seas. 
25. Columba Mexicana, the Mexican pigeon. All we 
know of this bird is, that the eyes are iurrounded with 
crimfon; the irides black; the whole plumage brown, 
except the breaft and tips of the wings, which are white; 
the legs red. Native of Mexico. 
26. Columba nsevia, the black-fpotted pigeon; fize of 
the common pigeon; bill black ; the head, neck,and up¬ 
per parts, brown, fpotted with black; breaft, belly, and 
thighs, pale fulvous; under taii coverts, and under the 
wings, cinereous; quills and tail brown; legs red. Na¬ 
tive of New Spain in South America, where it is a con- 
ftant inhabitant of the woods. 
27. Columba hoilotl, the white-fhouldered pigeon; bill 
and legs fcarlet, and the plumage of a purpiifh rufous 
colour, except the lefler wing-coverts, which are white. 
Other varieties are of a pale fulvous, with the lefler wing- 
coverts white; the bill and legs reddifh. This is alfo a 
native of Mexico. 
28. Columba ccerulea, the blue pigeon ; fize of the do- 
meftic pigeon : the bill, irides, and legs, red; the head, 
neck, upper parts, and thighs, are blue ; on the head and 
neck is a mixture of red, elpecially on the fore part; the 
breaft, belly, fides, wing-coverts, and under the tail, 
red ; quills and tail blue. This fpecies likewife inhabits 
Mexico. 
29. Columba palumbus, the ring-pigeon ; a large fpe¬ 
cies, in length ieventeen inches and a half. The bill is 
of a yellowifh colour; the noftrils covered with a mealy 
red flefhy membrane; the irides pale yellow; the head, 
back, and wing-coverts, blueifh afh-colour; the upper 
part of the back inclines to brown; the lower part, rump,, 
and fore part of the neck, pale afh-colour ; the reft of the 
neck, and the breaft, vinaceous 5 the belly, thighs, and 
vent, dirty white ; the hind part and fides of the neck 
are green gold, in fome lights changing to biue with a 
copper glols ; and on each fide of the neck is a white 
crel'cent; the greater quills are dufky ; all of them, ex¬ 
cept the outermoft, have the exterior edges white ; the 
fecondaries are greyifh brown 5 at the bafe of the baftard 
wing is a dafh of white; the tail is afh-coloured above, 
with the end biackifh, but beneath the bafe and ends 
they are black; the middle hoary; the legs are covered 
with feathers almoft to the toes, of a red colour; and 
the claws black. This bird is found throughout Europe; 
the major part of them, in refpe6t to this kingdom, are 
emigrants, departing at the end of the year, and return¬ 
ing early in the fpring. They inhabit the woods, and 
build on the tops of trees. This fpecies is called in fome 
parts of England by the names of queeji and cujhat. 
30. Columba aenea, the nutmeg-pigeon ; fize of the 
ring-pigeon ; the bill almoft green ; the head, neck, and 
under parts of the body, dirty white, with a tinge of 
vinaceous; the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, 
green, glofled with gold and copper; under tail-coverts 
purpiifh chefnut; quills afh-coloured; the tail is even at 
the end; the legs are covered half way down with 
feathers; the colour of them, and the claws, greenifh. 
This inhabits the Molucca iflands, where it feeds on nut¬ 
megs. There is a variety of this fpecies with the head 
bine grey; the oill grey; irides and legs pale carmine ; 
upper parts of the body green, glofled with gold and cop¬ 
per; the neck, breaft, and belly, reddifh grey; under tail- 
coverts yellowifh, quills and tail black. One variety fimi- 
lar to the above came from New Zealand; and another 
from Amfterdam ifle, where it is called oroobaya. 
31. Columba alba, the white nutmeg-pigeon ; of a 
middie fize; the bill light grey; irides yellowifh; the 
plumage wholly white, except the quilis, and one-third 
of the tail next the end, which are black ; legs light 
grey. This inhabits New Guinea, and, with the laft, 
feeds on nutmegs ; and ferves to propagate that ufeful 
fpice. We are informed by Sonnerat, that it is raoft like¬ 
ly the outer fkin alone ferves them for nourifhment: as 
to the nut itfelf, it is voided whole, and fo little altered, 
that after having paffed the organs of digeftion, it is not 
rendered the lefs fit for vegetation; from hence it comes 
that thefe birds, flying from one ifland to another, fow 
and fpread the nutmeg in all of them which they fre¬ 
quent. A pigeon was found by Forfter, in his voyage 
with'captain Cook, with two nutmegs in its mouth and 
craw, ftill furrounded with their leaflet covering or mace, 
at the ifle of Rotterdam. By this means likewife is the 
cinnamon-tree propagated at Ceylon, by the wild doves, 
called from thence cinnamon-eaters ; and occafion the rife 
of fo many young trees along the road, that they look 
like a foreft. Pigeons are faid alfo to be the propagators 
of the lorantlms ftelis, Linn. “ feeding on the berries, 
4 and 
