CARPOPHAi&A FINSCHI,.a»Bs<g<
CARPOPHAGA FINSCHI, Ramsay.
Finsch’s Fruit-Pig,eon.
Carpophaga finschii, Ramsay, Journ. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 129 (1881).—Tristram, Ibis, 1882, p. 144.— Ramsay, t. c.
p. 478.—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, xviii. p. 428 (1882).—Id. Orn. Papuasia, etc. iii. App.
p. 558 (1882).
As Count Salvadori has surmised, the nearest ally o f the present species is Carpophaga rufioentris
(C. rufigaster, auctt.)* but the differences are numerous and strik in g ; they are as follows :—
1. The grey band on the tail is subterminal, not terminal, the tips o f the feathers being green.
2. The basal portion o f the tail is deep blue.
3. T h e lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are green with golden reflexions, not purplish red as in
C. rufioentris.
4. The head is grey, as well as the hind neck and upper mantle.
5 . The ashy pink o f the throat occupies also the fore neck and chest, whereas in C. rufioentris the brickred
colour o f the underparts commences a t the fore neck.
6. The rufous colour of the breast is continued equally over the abdomen, and is deepest on the under tailcoverts
in C. rufioentris; the lower abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts a re quite pale.
It. will a t once be seen th at a Pigeon differiug in so many characters from its nearest ally must be an
easily recognizable species, and we have not met with any. bird with which it could be confounded.
T he type specimen is a male, procured by the Rev. G. Brown in Irish Cove, New Ireland ; it has been lent
to us by our friend Mr. Ramsay for the purposes o f the present work.
The following is a detailed description :—
Adult male. General colour above dark grass-green from the middle o f the back to the upper tail-coverts,
many o f the feathers coppery o r golden green, the lower mantle and upper back reddish or coppery; wing-
coverts green with an emerald appearance, the lesser series washed with coppery like the middle o f the b a c k ;
bastard wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, externally marked with deep indigo, which is glossed with
bronzy green, especially on the secondaries ; tail-feathers deep blue for their basal half, succeeded by a broad
band o f ashy grey, which is again succeeded by a narrow b ar o f black, leaving a broad terminal band of green ;
entire head, hind neck, and upper mantle clear blue-grey, the base of the forehead and lores washed with pale
ro sy ; feathers above and below the eye creamy white, purer white underneath the l a t t e r ; ear-coverts pale
rosy extending on to the sides of the hinder crown ; cheeks and throat also pale ro sy ; lower throat, fore
neck, and chest a little deeper rosy pink, with a slight bloom o f blue-grey pervading the lower throat and also
the sides o f the neck, scarcely developed at all on the fore neck and c h e s t; remainder o f under surface from
the breast downwards deep orange or brick-red, rath er more intense on the under tail-coverts; under wing-
coverts dark slaty grey, the feathers being dusky, edged with the latter c o lo u r; axillaries like the b re a s t;
edge o f wing washed with green and blue ; greater under-coverts and quills below dusky slate-colour. Total
length 13*5 inches, culmen 0 ‘95, wing 8 '3 , tail 4 '5 , tarsus 1-1.
The Plate represents this Pigeon o f the full size. The figures are drawn from the type specimen, which
Mr. Ramsay has kindly lent to us.
[R. B. S.]