The genera of birds (19176610955)

Description:

..nh-r IV. (OLUM1LE
Family Columbidje.
The second Subfamily,
COLUMBINE, or Pigeons,
have the Bill moderate, slender, with the basal portion covered with a soft tumid skin, and the apical
part hard and slightly vaulted, and acute at the tip ; the Nostrils forming a longitudinal slit in the fore
part of the soft basal portion of the bill ; the Wings moderate and pointed ; the Tail of various lengths,
and generally rounded ; the Tarsi generally short ; the Toes lengthened, the lateral ones mostly equal,
and the hind toe about the length of the tarsus.
Carpophaga Selby.*
Bill moderate, slender, with the base depressed, the tip compressed and moderately arched, and
the margin slightly sinuated ; the nostrils placed in the soft basal portion of the bill, and forming a
longitudinal slit. Wings moderate and pointed ; with the second, third, and fourth quills nearly equal,
and longest. Tail lengthened, and generally rounded. Tarsi very short, and clothed with down below
the knee. Toes strong, and broadly padded below ; with the outer toe longer than the inner, and the hind
toe much developed.
The species of this genus are found in the forests of India, the Moluccas, Celebes, Australia, and the islands of the
Pacific. They live on the branches of the highest trees, seeking the various fruits and berries that grow on them.
When compelled to remove to a fresh locality for their food, they travel generally in small flocks, at an elevation suffi-
cient to clear the tops of the high trees of the primeval forests. Some of the species feed on the nutmeg, or rather its
soft covering, generally known as the mace. The fruit, according to Sonncrat, is swallowed entire, passes unin-
jured through the digestive organs of the bird, and is thus dispersed throughout the group of the Moluccas and other
islands of the East. This process is supposed to be necessary for the germination of the nutmeg. The nest is formed
of sticks laid together in cross rows, whereon the female deposits one or two eggs.
1. C. anea (Linn.) Selby, Temm. Pig. t. 3, 4., Voy. del'Uranie,
t. 29. — Columba pacifica Gmel.
2. C. oceanica (Less.) Selby, Voy. de la Coqu. t. 4-1., Kittl. Kupf.
der Vogel, t. 33. f. 1., Knip et Prev. Pig t. 24. — Col. globicera
Forst. Icon. ined. t. 139.
3. C. myristicivora (Scop.) Sonn. Voy. t. 103. — C olumba alba
Gmel. ; Columba littoralis Temm. Pig. t 7»
4. C. luetuosa (Temm.) Selby, PI. col. 247., Gould's B. of
Austr. pi., Knip et Prev. Pig. t 40.
5. C. norfoleiensis (Lath.) — Columba leucomela Temm. PI. col.
186., Gould's B. of Austr.pl., Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 28.
6". C. magnified (Temm.) Selby, PI. col 163., Knip et Prev.
Pig. t. 25.
7. C. puella (Less.) Knip et Prev. Pig., t. 1.
8. C. nova zealandice (Gmel.) — Columba zealandica Lath. ;
Columba argetrsea Forst. Icon. ined. t. 137- ,* Columba princeps
Vigors, Jard. Sc Selby, 111. Orn. n. s. pi. 5.?
9. C. spadicea (Lath.) Temm. Pig. t. 1., Gould's B. of Austr. pi.
— Columba leucogaster Wagl.
10. C. Pinon (Quoy & Gaim.) Selby, Voy. de l'Uranie, Ois. t. 28.,
Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 15.
11. C. badia (Raffl.) Linn. Trans, xiii. 317. — Columba capi-
strata Temm. PI. col. l65., Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 37.
12. C. insignis (Hodgs.) As. Res. xix. 1 6l . — Type of Ducida
Hodgs. (1836.)
13. C.janthina (Temm.) PI. col. 503., Knip et Prev. Pig. t. 16.,
Kittl. Kupf. der Vogel, t. 5. f. 1.
14. C. perspicillata (Temm. - ) PI. col. 240.
Established by Mr. Selby (Xat. Libr. Ornith. vol. v. p. 112.) in 1835. Mr. Hodgson's genus Ducula (1836) (As. Res. xix. 160.),
since changed to liinopus (1841) by the same author, is coequal.