Part 19

a1. Breast green; abdomen pale vinous. ... poliocephala (p. 48) a2. Breast and abdomen uniform blue-gray. ... mindorensis (p. 49)

40. ZONOPHAPS POLIOCEPHALA (Hartlaub).

PHILIPPINE ZONE-TAILED PIGEON.

Carpophaga poliocephala Hartlaub, Jour. für Orn. (1855), 97; Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 21, 209; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 487. Zonophaps poliocephala Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 65; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 12.

Basilan (Steere Exp., McGregor); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester); Dinagat (Everett); Leyte (Whitehead); Luzon (Gevers, Whitehead); Masbate (Steere Exp.); Mindanao (Everett, Steere Exp., Goodfellow); Mindoro (McGregor); Negros (Steere, Keay); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (McGregor); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester).

Adult (sexes alike).--Head and a narrow band across throat pale gray, vinous on crown and occiput; a large patch of light chestnut on chin; lower breast and abdomen pale vinous; abdomen freckled with chestnut, the color becoming rich chestnut-brown on flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts; tail black below, crossed at about 40 mm. from tip by a pale gray band which shows both above and below; when the specimen is held toward the light, the crop, breast, sides of neck, and upper parts, except head, are rich green; held away from the light, tail and its coverts, rump, distal wing-coverts, secondaries, and breast become largely coppery or bronze-color; hind neck vinaceous gray, proximal wing-coverts, tertials, and interscapular region deep vinous-purple. Bill black; "iris indian-yellow, passing into red on outer ring;" legs, feet, and skin about eye crimson; nails gray. Length, 400 to 430; a male from Sibuyan measures: Wing, 235; tail, 156; culmen from base, 24; tarsus, 32; a female from Sibuyan, wing, 235; tail, 154; culmen from base, 24; tarsus, 27.

"Comparatively rare and usually frequents the loftiest trees. For a long time we mistook its deep booming note for the hoot of some great owl. Occasionally it comes down into low second-growth where it is easily shot, being very stupid about making its escape.

"Iris with outer red and inner yellow or brown ring; legs and feet red; nails dark brown; bill black; eyelids red. Length 400." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

41. ZONOPHAPS MINDORENSIS (Whitehead).

MINDORO ZONE-TAILED PIGEON.

Carpophaga mindorensis Whitehead, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1896), ser. 6, 18, 189; Ibis (1899), 488; Grant, Ibis (1896), 476, pl. 11. Zonophaps mindorensis Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 65; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 12.

Mindoro (Whitehead).

"Adult male.--Most nearly allied to Carpophaga radiata (Quoy and Gaimard) but much larger. Top of head, neck, breast, and rest of under parts bluish slate-gray, darkest on belly and under tail-coverts, the latter indistinctly edged with rufous; forehead, cheeks, and throat pale whitish pink; feathers surrounding eye and forming a patch above ear-coverts, blackish gray; hind neck gradually shading into sooty black on the mantle and interscapulary region; scapulars and inner wing-coverts bronze-lake, changing to bronze-green on the rest of the wings, rump, and upper tail-coverts; primary quills blackish gray, the inner ones glossed on the outer web and toward the extremity with metallic green; tail-feathers black, glossed with purple and green, and with a wide gray band across the middle; under wing-coverts and axillars slightly glossed with bronze. Length, 482; exposed culmen, 23; wing, 234; tail, 178; tarsus, 35; middle toe with claw, 51.

"Adult female.--Similar to the male but rather smaller, and the under tail-coverts distinctly margined with chestnut. Length, 445; exposed culmen, 23; wing, 223; tail, 159; tarsus, 33; middle toe with claw, 46." (Whitehead.)

This species is much larger than Zonophaps poliocephala from which it differs also in the following points: A large black patch on ear-coverts and surrounding eye; forehead, cheeks, and chin fawn-color; occiput, neck, crop, breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts gray.

"Male.--Iris bright yellow, with an outer ring of red; orbital skin lake-red, with a grayish yellow space between the rings; bill black; feet coral-pink. Female: Iris straw-yellow, with an outer ring of golden brown; orbital skin orange-yellow, bill olive-brown, black at tip; feet salmon-red; nails black.

"This species is more often met with singly or in pairs, but sometimes as many as four birds were seen together; they were feeding on some large purple colored fruits as big as a pigeon's egg. C. mindorensis, like the last species (Zonophaps poliocephala), has a conspicuous fleshy ring outside the eyelid. * * * During dull misty weather, especially just after daybreak, the penetrating booming note is more often heard than on clear days." (Whitehead.)

So far as known the species is confined to the highlands of Mindoro at an elevation of between 1,200 and 1,800 meters.

Genus MYRISTICIVORA Reichenbach, 1852.

Inner webs of first and second primaries very slightly attenuated; tarsus feathered in front for half its length. This genus is remarkable for its coloration; parts of the wings and tail, slate or black, the rest of the plumage pale creamy white.

42. MYRISTICIVORA BICOLOR (Scopoli).

NUTMEG PIGEON.

Columba bicolor Scopoli, Del Flor. et Faun. Insubr. (1786), 2, 94. Carpophaga bicolor Cassin, Ornith. Wilkes Exped. (1858), 265, pl. 28. Myristicivora bicolor Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 21, 227; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 67; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1901), 1, 86; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 12.

Ca-má-su, bá-lud blan'-co, in general use.

Balabac (Steere, Everett); Bantayan (McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Cresta de Gallo (McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Malanipa (Murray); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Everett, Koch & Schadenberg); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter); Negros (Meyer, Steere Exp.); Nipa (Everett); Palawan (Bourns & Worcester, White); Sakuijok (Everett); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); West Bolod (Mearns). Siam, Cochin-China, Malay Peninsula, Tenimber and Indo-Malayan Islands, Andamans, Nicobars, and Moluccas.

Adult (sexes alike).--General color pale creamy white; head and sides of head more or less ochraceous-yellow; wing-coverts and edge of wing white; alula, primary-coverts, primaries, and most of the secondaries black; outer web of longer primaries mealy; basal half, or more, of rectrices and under tail-coverts light yellow, the coverts in some specimens spotted with black; end of tail marked with a wide black band which is widest on middle rectrices. Iris dark brown; bill dull blue with a black tip; eyelids, legs, and feet dark blue; nails black. Length, about 380; a male from Ticao measures: Wing, 229; tail, 127; culmen from base, 25; tarsus, 27; a female from Cresta de Gallo, wing, 229; tail, 127; culmen from base, 24; tarsus, 29.

The camaso, or balud blanco, being a very conspicuous bird, is well known to both natives and Spaniards and can not be mistaken for any other species of Philippine pigeon. The species is irregular in distribution; it is often abundant on a small island and rare, or entirely wanting, on a larger neighboring island. Worcester and Bourns found it especially abundant in Siquijor. No specimens were taken by Whitehead and it is unrecorded from Luzon, although there seems to be no reason why it should be absent from that island.

Family COLUMBIDÆ.