417 
PIGEON. 
link between the pigeon and fome genera of the gallina¬ 
ceous order, having fome characters of each, and the 
habits of the latter. The fpecies of this divifion are lefs 
numerous than of the two former: one of them is the C. 
coronata, or great crowned pigeon ; and another is the 
Nicobar pigeon, both of which are figured in vol. iv. 
M. Vaillant concludes by obferving, that, of thefe three 
divifions, not one fpecies belonging to the fecond and 
third is to be found in a ltate of nature in Europe; in 
the New World none of the fecond ; but in Hindooftan 
and Africa fpecies of all three occur. We now proceed 
to notice the new fpecies, continuing the numbers front 
vol. iv. p. 823. 
72. Columba oleagina, the olive-pigeon. This belongs 
to Vaillant’s firft divifion, and is the fpecies noticed under 
the head Falco longicaudus, or long-tailed eagle, vol. vii. 
p. 180. Its cry, when on the wing, refembles the creak¬ 
ing of a pulley when railing a great weight; and this 
delightful note the eagle takes advantage of to pounce 
upon its prey, as we have fully defcribed in the place 
above quoted. But this cry is heard only morning and 
evening; during the heat of the day, the pigeon remains 
perched in tranquillity on the higheft trees, or feeking 
out a kind of wild olive-tree, the fruit of which it prefers 
to all other; and hence its name vlive-dnyf, olive-pigeon. 
Thefe olives, which are as large as thofe of Europe, the 
bird fwallows whole ; they grow in many parts of the 
eaft coaft of Africa; and, wherever they are met with, 
we are lure to find this fpecies of pigeon. 
The olive-pigeon is about the fize of the C. palutnbus, 
or ring-pigeon of Europe, already defcribed, vol. iv. p. 818. 
but the colours are extremely different. The top of the 
head is a lively blue-grey with a vinous tint; the front 
of the neck and the bread are brown with fcollops of 
wine-lees and triangular fpots of white; fimilar fpots are 
Scattered all over the upper wjng-cov*erts, the ground¬ 
colour of which is alfo brown tinted with vinous red; 
the wmg and tail feathers are blackifh inclining to grey 
on the outer barbs. The bill, feet, and nails, are yellow; 
the eyes pearl-colour, furrounded by a patch of naked 
fkin which is orange-colour, and extends farther below 
the eye than above it. The female is fomewhat lefs, and 
has fewer white fpots on her plumage. 
The olive-pigeon is very frequent in the forefts of the 
Auteniquois country. In the feafcn of love, they fepa- 
rate into fingle pairs; but at other times they go in flocks. 
They build in trees, like our wood-pigeons, and iay two 
very white eggs; the young are hatched on the thirteenth 
or fourteenth da)', and are very delicate eating. Though 
they come into the level country, and feed upon grain, 
they are always in the neighbourhood of great woods.— 
Rainier rameron, Vaillant, i\° 264. 
73. Columba brunnea, the brown pigeon: cap, neck 
above, back, and wing-coverts, brown; bread, neck be¬ 
neath, and rump, fhining green. Bill and legs red. In¬ 
habits New Zealand. 
74. Columba chnlcoptera, the bronze-winged pigeon : 
brownifli, edged with rufous ; front and chin white; a 
bifid copper-gold bar on the wings, and a black one near 
the tip of the tail. Bill and legs red ; lores white; body 
above afliy brown, beneath paler, all the feathers edged 
with tawny; fmaller wing-coverts brown, with a few cop¬ 
per-gold oval fpots, the reft with an oval copper-gold 
ipot at the tip, forming a tranfverfe bifid bar; quill- 
feathers brown, within rufous; two middle tail-feathers 
brown, the reft pale lead-colour. Inhabits Norfolk Ifland ; 
fize of the ftock-pigeon. 'Burton, from Phillips's Botany 
Bay. 
75. Columba antarffica, the antarfilic pigeon : grey 
lead-colour, beneath paler; hind-head with a pendent 
ferruginous creft; wings and tail blackifh, the latter with 
a pale bar. Bill and legs red, lower mandible with a 
bluifh tip ; front and chin bluifh ; body beneath with a 
pale reddifh tinge. Inhabits New Holland; fize of the 
ring-dove. Turtun from New IiolL Zoul. 
Vol.XX. No. 1379. 
76. Columba rofea, the rofy pigeon : fanguine-rofy ; 
cefe orange; crown, orbits, and tips of the fmaller coverts, 
white ; wings and tail brown. Bill and legs yellow- 
brown ; orbits white, imbedded on the fore part with 
black, which colour runs juft over the cere, fo as to form 
a black frontlet; irides yellow; body beneath paler. 
Inhabits India; fize of the common pigeon. Turton 
from dm, Phyf. 
77. Columba albiroftra, the white-faced turtle-dove. 
Naturalifts have diftinguilhed the turtle-doves from the 
pigeons by this quality : they fay that the turtle-doves 
live in flocks, the pigeons not. But Vaillant afl'erts that 
tlie contrary is the fa cl; for that turtle-doves are never 
feen in large flocks, unlefs when on a journey ; whereas, 
after the pairing-feafon is over, very confiderable flocks 
of pigeons and ftock-doves may be feen. If many turtle¬ 
doves are feen together, it is merely becaufe they have 
been attradled by fome food they are particularly fond of; 
but, when difturbed, every pair takes a different direc¬ 
tion; whereas, if you fcare a flock of pigeons, they fly 
off in a compaCt body, and all perch on the fame tree, or 
alight together on the ground. 
It has been well obferved, vol. iv. 819, that “ the 
turtle, perhaps more than any other bird, loves coolnefs 
in fummer;” and accordingly, fays Vaillant, in the burn¬ 
ing deferts of Africa, thefe were always birds of good 
omen to myfelf and company ; for if, when almoft dying 
with thirft, we chanced to fee a pair of turtle-doves, we 
were fure to find not far ofF a fpring or a colleflion of 
rain-water, of which we always availed ourfelves with 
gratitude; I mean, that we never offered any violence or 
difturbance to thofe kind harbingers. 
Thus much of turtle-doves in general. The prefent 
fpecies was difcovered by Vaillant only in the Auteni¬ 
quois country. The forehead, cheeks, and throat, are 
entirely white; the neck, breaft, mantle, and rump, are 
red brown, varied with purple, green, and Heel-blue, 
according to the different reflections of the light. The 
under parts are all red. The wing and tail feathers, on a 
blackifh ground, are edged with bluifh-grey; the bill is 
bluifh, the legs vinous red, the eyes orange. The female 
has a plumage lefs bright. 
This fpecies is met with only in large woods; it is 
hard to flioof, becaufe, keeping always on the ground, it 
is not eafily difcerned among the brufh-wood ; and, even 
when raifed, it often flies off undifcovered, though with a 
great noife; becaufe it moftly perches on the low branches 
of trees, or in bufhes, in the midft of which it makes a 
flat neft, which never contains more than two eggs of a 
dirty-white colour.— Tourterelle a mafque bianc, Vail¬ 
lant, N° 269. 
78. Columba reticulata, the mailed turtle-dove: head 
and neck of alight vinaceous colour; breaft reddifh, 
agreeably varied with zig-zag lines like the loofe mefhes 
of a net, or the rings which form a coat of mail, whence 
the name. The under parts are perlaceous grey, which, 
becoming lighter on the pofterior, is perfectly white on 
the under, tail-coverts. The mantle is reddifh, and the 
middle of the great wing-coverts, but the interior parts 
are of a bluifli-grey ; the great wing and tail feathers are 
blackifh within, their outer barbs bordered with grey. 
The bill is dark brown, but yellowifh at the tip; the 
eyes orange-colour, the feet light red. The female is 
rather lefs, and her colours not fo bright. 
This fpecies inhabits the weft coaft of Southern Africa ; 
firft appearing about Mount Camis, and thence to the 
Great Namaquois; it occurs on all the borders of the 
Kaufli and the Swart-uocren ; but is no-where fo plenty 
as on the confines of the Great or Orange River, and 
the Lion River, near the Cape of Good Hope : they occur 
at Senegal alfo. They neftle on trees, like our turtle¬ 
doves, and lay two white eggs ; they refemble the com¬ 
mon European turtle-dove in fize, and in their cooing 
notes Vaillant lays that this fpecies is defcribed by 
Brifi'on under the name of Tourterelle du Bengale, and 
5 O that 
