(PLATE 3, FIG. 3.)
_Columba mayeri_ Prévost & Knip, Pigeons II, pl. 60 (1843).
_Columba meyeri_ Schlegel & Pollen, Rech. Faun. Mad. p. 111, pl. 36
(1868).
_Peristera meyeri_ G. R. Gray, Gen. B. III App. p. 24 (1849).
_Carpophaga meyeri_ G. R. Gray, fide Bp. Consp. Av. II p. 45 (1854).
_Trocaza meyeri_ Bonaparte, Consp. Av. II p. 45 (1854).
_Trocaza meijeri_ Pollen, N.T.D. I p. 318 (1863).
_Nesoenas mayeri_ Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vol. XXI p. 327
(1893).
The following is the description by Salvadori in the "Catalogue of
Birds":--"Head, neck and underparts pale pink, fading into whitish towards
the forehead, cheeks and upper throat, and passing into rather darker pink
on the mantle; remainder of the upper back and the entire wings brown, with
a slight shade of olive and rufous; lower back and rump greyish, the latter
mottled with chestnut; upper tail coverts and tail cinnamon, the outer tail
feathers fading into buff on the outer webs and towards the tips;
undertail-coverts pink, like the mantle; undersurface of the wings ashy
brown, slightly pale on the axillaries, and under wing-coverts iris yellow;
bill yellow, shaded with red towards the base; legs red (fide Shelley).
Total length about 15.5 inches, wing 8.5, tail 6.5, bill 0.86, tarsus 1.3."
In the live bird the pink soon fades away almost entirely, and the olive
shade on the wings is strongly developed.
This bird was not found by the Rev. H. H. Slater, during his visit to
Mauritius. As observed by Mons. Paul Carié (Ornis XII, p. 127), the idea
that it is extinct is, however, incorrect, as it can still easily be
procured, though it is rare. M. Georges Antelme, of Mauritius, possesses
the eggs of this pigeon. That it still exists is also evident from two
specimens which were sent to the Zoological Gardens, London, last year, and
are still living there.