_Geotrygon sylvatica_, +Mihi.+
[92] +Geotrygon.+ _Generic Character._—Beak robust, rather long;
both mandibles strongly arched at the tip; nostrils opening far
forward. Wings short, and rounded: third quill longest; second and
following quills strongly and abruptly sinuated on the outer edge;
first quill sickle-shaped, not attenuated. Tail nearly even, short,
(viz. less than thrice the length of the tarsus). Tarsus longer
than middle toe, unfeathered, covered in front with transverse
plates. Inner toe longer than outer; hallux shorter than outer toe.
General form stout and plump.
_G. Sylvatica._ Length 12 inches, expanse 19, flexure 6¹⁄₂, tail 4,
rictus 1, tarsus 1¹⁄₂, middle toe 1¹⁄₁₀. Irides blood-red; orbits
grey, edge of eyelids scarlet; beak reddish-black; feet pale flesh
colour, front of tarsi and of toes, pink, claws blackish, small and
blunt. Head high and sub-conical; feathers of occiput projecting
and overhanging the neck, as if a notch had been cut with scissors;
or still more, as if the head were covered with a hood which hung
down behind. Forehead blackish grey, softening into a brownish
tint behind: below the eye and ear is a large undefined patch of
buff; chin of same hue; the rest of head, throat, neck, breast,
and belly, bluish-grey; the whole neck richly glossed with pale
crimson, changing to brassy-green, especially behind, where the
feathers meet in a sharp ridge. Abruptly separated from the neck, a
broad belt of dark red extends from each shoulder across the back,
reflecting the richest purple. The remainder of back, rump, tail,
and wing-secondaries and tertiaries, deep-sea-green, or black,
according to the light, glossed with rich purple: on the secondary
and primary coverts, the green merges into a dark bistre: primaries
bright chestnut, with black shafts and tips. Inner surface of
wings, thighs, lower belly, vent and under tail-coverts, chestnut.
No description can give an adequate notion of the lustrous radiance
of this most lovely bird; though it has not yet found a place in
our Ornithologies. I presume it to be the “_Columba silvatica major
nigro-cærulescens_,” of Browne’s Jamaica, p. 468, but he has given
no description; his “Mountain Witch, Mountain Partridge, or Mountain
Dove,” is doubtless the bird described in the following article. Mr.
Selby, in his beautiful volume on the Pigeons, in the Nat. Lib., named,
without characterising, the genus _Geophilus_, which, while he applied
it with confidence to _Carunculatus_ and _Nicobaricus_, he assigned
doubtingly to the larger ground doves of Cuba and Jamaica. But these
species have no generic identity; nor if they had, could this name be
adopted, as it had been previously used for a genus of _Myriapoda_.
This magnificent bird inhabits the most retired mountains, and the
deepest woody glades there; places difficult of approach and rarely
traversed. In the dense and lofty forest that clothes the brow of
Bluefields Peak, it is very numerous, usually seen singly or in pairs,
walking on the ground; the freedom of the forest there from underwood
allowing it to exercise its fleetness of foot to advantage. If alarmed,
it generally seeks to escape by running, its bulk and shortness of wing
rendering its flight burdensome and ineffective. Its coo consists of
two loud notes, the first short and sharp, the second protracted and
descending with a mournful cadence. At a distance its first note is
inaudible; and the second, reiterated at measured intervals, sounds
like the groaning of a dying man. These moans, heard in the most
recluse and solemn glens, while the bird is rarely seen, have probably
given it the name of Mountain Witch.
About a score yards from the high road, just opposite Bluefields gate,
is a house lately occupied, but now deserted; the space between it
and the road is now overgrown with young trees sprung up with the
luxuriance of tropical vegetation, and is already a wilderness. Among
the bushes, the castor-oil plant and the physic-nut are numerous; and
under these in the dry season, the Whitewings assemble in search of
seeds. One day in November, Sam had gone thither to set a springe, when
he was surprised by the sight of a Mountain Witch on the ground almost
close to him. He had, the moment before, discharged his gun, and it
shows the fearlessness of this beautiful bird, that it had not flown at
the report. Immediately on the discovery, the lad drew back to re-load,
but before he could accomplish this, the bird began to run, and was
presently lost among the bushes. On several successive days it was
seen at the same spot, invariably on the ground; generally it allowed
a very close approach, running when the lad advanced, but stopping to
gaze if he stopped. As it stood it was observed to jerk the tail in the
manner of the Pea-dove. At length Sam shot it. It was a young bird,
rather smaller in size and less iridescent than the adult. Its craw was
full of castor-oil nuts, and contained also a little snail. This is
the only instance, I ever heard of, in which this species came down
to the lowlands: it was seen chiefly in the evening, and its object so
far from its mountain home, was probably the search after water, the
weather being very dry.
The relation which the development of the power of flight or of
walking, bears to the colour of the flesh, is well shown by a
comparison of this species with the Bald-pate or Blue Pigeon. The flesh
of the tree dove is dark red; that of the Mountain Witch is whiter than
a chicken’s: the former the more juicy, the latter tender, but dry;
both are delicious in flavour.
Various seeds and nuts I have found in the gizzards of many that I have
examined, some hard and stony; others farinaceous, and comminuted. The
seed of the lance-wood is said to afford it food.
The Mountain Witch is generally spoken of as rare, in the island;
but I suspect the remoteness and difficulty of access of its recluse
solitudes, have contributed to this opinion. Robinson gives Clarendon
as one of its localities: he says it is the most beautiful pigeon in
Jamaica. I should be inclined to say “the most beautiful _bird_,” if we
except the Long-tailed Humming-bird.
I had been assured by intelligent men, very familiar with these birds,
that the Mountain Witch lays in March, in the angle of the roots of a
tree, on the ground; that the young leave the nest about a week after
they are hatched, and are led about by the mother, who scratches for
them in the manner of a fowl. Some have declared that they have been
eye-witnesses of this; persons who have never heard that this pigeon
has any systematic affinity to the _Gallinaceæ_. I made many inquiries
and found the statement very general, almost universal. A female shot
in March had an egg in the oviduct, shelled and perfectly ready for
exclusion; it was of a dull reddish-white, unspotted; and measured 1¹⁄₄
inch by ⁷⁄₈.
Of many which were procured for me in May, nearly every one was of the
male sex; and they were shot from trees; on inquiry into this anomaly,
I was told that during incubation the male invariably lodges in a
neighbouring tree; a singular deviation from its ordinary habits.
There is no appreciable difference between the sexes, except that the
male has the vent, under tail-coverts, and thighs of a deeper chestnut,
and empurpled. The red of the quills is also brighter.