_PIGEONS AND SAND-GROUSE._
Pigeons, as a rule, are birds of wonderful powers of flight. The young,
which never exceed two in number, are hatched perfectly blind and helpless,
and but sparsely clothed. They are nourished by a peculiar milky secretion
of the parents' crop known as "pigeons' milk." The operation of feeding is
performed by the parent thrusting its beak into the mouth of its offspring
and ejecting therein the secretion just referred to. The nest is a very
simple structure, being composed of twigs, generally placed in a tree, but
sometimes in a cave or hole in a bank. The eggs, which never exceed two in
number, are pure white.
Perhaps the most beautiful species occur among the large group known as
FRUIT-PIGEONS. Many of these are invested in raiment of vivid green and
yellow, forming a little coterie by themselves--the GREEN PIGEONS. Others,
on account of their brilliancy, have been designated PAINTED PIGEONS, of
which, perhaps, the most beautiful of all is EUGÈNE'S PIGEON. Try to
imagine it! The head is pure white, the upper part of the breast a
purple-red surrounded by a dull purple band; the under parts are greyish
green, shading into white; the flanks green; whilst the upper parts are
also green, but of a rich bronze tint. Another group from the Fiji Islands
includes a magnificent species, the male of which is clothed in a glorious
orange, save the head and throat, which are olive-yellow. His mate is
scarcely less beautiful, her plumage being rich green. Another member of
the group--the WHITE NUTMEG-PIGEON--is clad in creamy white, with black
quills, and a black tip to the tail. It is a native of Borneo. The
fruit-pigeons, it should be mentioned, include some of the largest of
living pigeons.
[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_] [_Berkhamsted._
A PAIR OF YOUNG PIGEONS IN NEST.
The hair-like down of the young pigeon is quite different to any other
nestling down.]
Whilst many of the Pigeon Tribe seem to have succeeded in dyeing their
feathers with all the hues of the rainbow, others have secured equal glory
by a covering which at first sight would rather appear to be of burnished
metal than of feathers. The most striking instance of this is found in the
magnificent NICOBAR PIGEONS. There are two species of these birds, which
occur not only in the Nicobar Islands, from which they take their name, but
also in the Malay Archipelago and the Solomon and Pelew Islands. The
general tone of the one species is black, but the upper parts are superbly
glossed with bronze and copper reflections. The other, from the Pelew
Islands, is indigo-blue in general tone. In one of the Nicobar Islands
these birds occur in thousands. Furthermore, these two pigeons stand alone,
in that the neck-feathers are greatly elongated, forming "hackles" like
those of the common fowl.
The largest of living pigeons are the GOURAS, or CROWNED PIGEONS. There are
six species, all of which are confined to Australasia. They are
characterised by a huge and very beautiful fan-shaped crest of feathers
which springs from the crown of the head.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
SOUTHERN FRUIT-PIGEON.
The flesh of the fruit-pigeon surpasses that of all other birds in
delicacy.]
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
NICOBAR IMPERIAL FRUIT-PIGEONS.
These birds lay but a single egg, which is large.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
NEW GUINEA CROWNED PIGEON.
This is the largest of living pigeons.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
WONGA-WONGA PIGEON.
This bird is found in the brush country of Eastern Australia.]
At the other extreme stand the NAMAQUA and SCALY DOVES. The former is
regarded by Professor Newton as one of the most graceful in form of all the
Pigeon Tribe: the latter are scarcely, if at all, larger than the sparrows.
The power of flight of some forms is, however, extremely limited; they bid
fair in course of time to become flightless, like the dodo and the
solitaire. The most interesting of these is the GREY-NAPED GROUND-PIGEON.
Pigeons for the most part display a marked preference for a life among the
trees rather than on the ground; but there are some which are essentially
ground-dwellers. The species in which this changed habit is most deeply
rooted, and probably of longest standing, exhibit one very interesting
point of difference from their neighbours of the woods. This difference
consists in the very considerably longer legs which mark the
ground-haunting bird. The GREY-NAPED GROUND-PIGEON of South-east New Guinea
forms an excellent example, inasmuch as the legs are much longer than in
any other pigeon. These birds (for there are three species in all) resemble
the Megapodes in habit, and frequent hills or dense thickets. They lay one
egg, which is deposited at the foot of a tree.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
MALE BLACK-BELLIED SAND-GROUSE.
Young sand-grouse run directly they are hatched, thus differing from young
pigeons.]
Among domesticated breeds is the ENGLISH POUTER, a bird characterised by
its enormous gullet, which can be distended with air whenever the owner
wills. The carriage of the body is vertical, not, as in pigeons generally,
horizontal. The CARRIER is a breed illustrating the result of
long-sustained selection to increase, amongst other characters, the
development of the bare skin surrounding the eye and beak of all pigeons,
wild or tame. In the SHORT-FACED TUMBLER we have a breed wherein those
birds with the shortest beaks have been steadily bred from. To-day so
little beak is left that some individuals are hatched which, when grown up,
are unable to feed themselves. An example of a radical change in the
feathers is the INDIAN FRILL-BACK. In this case the feathers all over the
body are reversed, or turned forwards, giving the bird a quite
extraordinary appearance. In the JACOBIN we have a breed--and we could cite
others--wherein the feathers of the neck are much elongated, and turn
upwards and forwards over the head to form a hood.
In general appearance SAND-GROUSE are small, very short-legged birds, with
small heads and pointed wings and tail. Their general tone of coloration
may be described as sand-coloured, and this has been adopted to render them
in harmony with the barren sand-wastes in which they dwell. But some may be
described as quite highly coloured, being banded and splashed with
chestnut, black, pearly grey, white, and yellow, according to the species.
PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE is a native of the Kirghiz Steppes, extending through
Central Asia to Mongolia and Northern China, and northwards to Lake Baikal,
and southwards to Turkestan. Here they may be met with in enormous numbers.
In North China large numbers are often caught after a snow-storm. The snow
is cleared away, and a small green bean is scattered about. Young
sand-grouse differ remarkably in one particular from young pigeons,
inasmuch as the former are hatched covered with a thick down, and are able
to run about soon after leaving the egg, whilst the pigeon comes into the
world very helpless and much in need of clothing. Three eggs are laid by
the sand-grouse, and these are double-spotted; whilst the pigeon lays but
two, which are white. The eggs of the sand-grouse are laid in a depression
in the ground, without any nest.
[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin._ _Printed at Lyons,
France._
CROWNED CRANE.
The feathers of the Crest of this bird look not unlike stiff hairs.]
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