_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CARPOPHAGA LUCTUOSA.
Torres Strait Fruit Pigeon.
_Columba luctuosa_, Temm. Pl. Col., 247.—Wagl. Syst. Av. Columba, sp.
23.
_M̏o-koit_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
This bird is commonly known by the name of the Torres Strait Pigeon,
from its being so abundant there that few voyagers pass the straits
during its breeding-season without encountering it. It arrives in the
Cobourg Peninsula at the beginning of November and departs again in
April or May. Like every other true _Carpophaga_ it is strictly
arboreal, living among the branches of the highest trees and feeding
upon various fruits and berries. Mr. Gilbert’s notes respecting it are
as follows:—“This bird may generally be seen in great numbers wherever
the wild nutmeg is to be found, and so exclusively does it confine
itself to the trees in search of food, that during the whole time I was
in the country I never saw one rise from the ground, nor did I meet with
any person in the settlement who had. It flies very rapidly, and
generally mounts up to so great a height as to be beyond the range of a
gun. The only time at which I could succeed in procuring specimens was
the evening, when it resorts to the mangroves on the small islands lying
off the shore, or to the dense thickets a short distance inland; at this
time it may be seen arriving in small flocks of from ten to fifteen to
roost for the night. Its note, like that of the other pigeons, is a
_coo_, but at times, particularly when it has paired, it is much louder
and deeper than that of any other species I ever heard.
“It pairs and commences breeding immediately after its arrival in
November, and I have obtained eggs as late as the middle of January. The
nest is formed of a few sticks laid across one another in opposite
directions, and is so slight a structure that the eggs may usually be
seen through the interstices from beneath, and it is so flat that it
appears wonderful how the eggs are retained upon it when the branch is
waving about in the wind; it is usually built on the horizontal branch
of a mangrove, and it would seem that it prefers for this purpose a
branch overhanging water. That it never lays more than one egg appears
to me without a doubt, for upon visiting Table Head River on the eastern
side of the harbour of Port Essington I found no less than twenty nests,
all of which contained either a single egg or a single young bird.”
The whole of the plumage buffy white, with the exception of the
primaries, secondaries and greater wing-coverts, which are greyish
black, and the tips of the tail-feathers, which are black, the black
becoming of less extent as the feathers recede from the centre of the
tail, until the outer feather is only slightly tipped; this feather is
also broadly margined with black on the outer web for three-fourths of
its length from the base; the under tail-coverts also have an irregular
band of black near the tip of each feather; irides dark brown; bill dark
greenish grey, except the tip, which is light yellow.
The figure is of the natural size.
[Illustration:
LOPHOLAIMUS ANTARCTICUS: _G. R. Gray_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
LOPHOLAIMUS ANTARCTICUS, _G. R. Gray_.
Top-knot Pigeon.
_Columba antarctica_, Shaw, Zool. of New Holl., pl. 5.
_Columba dilopha_, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 124, and Pl.
Col. 162.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 279.—Wagl. Syst. Av., sp.
11.
_Lophorhynchus dilophus_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 348.
———— _antarcticus_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 1st Edit., p.
58.
_Lopholaimus antarcticus_, G. R. Gray, Ibid. Appendix to 2nd Edit., p.
12.
Top-knot Pigeon of the Colonists of New South Wales.
Although the specific term of _antarcticus_ is not an appropriate
appellation for this noble Pigeon, still it cannot, I think, with strict
propriety be sunk into a synonym, since it was first applied to it in a
work intended exclusively to illustrate the zoology of New Holland, as
will be seen on reference to the synonyms above quoted. I feel assured
that my excellent and scientific friend M. Temminck was either
unacquainted with the publication alluded to, or that the circumstance
of its having been previously described and figured had escaped his
memory, when he characterized this bird in the thirteenth volume of the
“Linnean Transactions,” and subsequently figured it in his “Planches
Coloriées,” under the name of _Columba dilopha_.
I have not yet seen specimens of this Pigeon from the northern or
western coast, and it appears to be exclusively confined to the rich and
luxuriant districts of the southern and eastern portions of Australia;
being particularly abundant in the brushes of Illawarra, the Hunter, the
Clarence, &c., where the trees furnish it at all seasons with a
plentiful supply of food. So entirely arboreal are its habits, that I
never once saw it descend to the ground, or even to the low shrub-like
trees. It is strictly gregarious, often traversing the forests in flocks
of many hundreds in search of those trees most laden with its favourite
fruit; upon discovering which the entire flock alight simultaneously
with a rushing noise, clinging to and bearing down the smaller twigs and
branches with their weight, for grasping which their broad, hand-like
feet seem peculiarly fitted. It is a bird of very powerful flight, and
usually flies at a considerable elevation in flocks closely packed
together.
Among other substances found in the stomachs of those specimens I
dissected, were the wild-fig and the large round berries of the
cabbage-palm; and in all probability it also feeds upon other fruits of
a still larger size, as its bill and throat are capable of being dilated
to such an extent as to admit of a substance as large as a walnut being
swallowed entire.
Its flesh is not so good as that of the other members of its family
inhabiting Australia, being coarse and dry-eating.
I had no opportunity of observing its nidification, neither could I
obtain any information on the subject.