163
ALECTROENAS NITIDISSIMA(SCOP.)
(Plate 22.)
- Pigeon hollandais Sonnerat, Voy. Ind. Orient. II, p. 175, pl. 101 (1782).
- Hackled Pigeon Latham, Syn. B. II, 2, p. 641, No. 36 (1783).
- Columba nitidissima Scopoli, Del. Flor. and Faun. Insubr. II, p. 93, No. 89 (1786) (ex Sonnerat).
- Columba franciae Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 2, p. 779, No. 51 (1788). (ex Sonnerat).
- Columba botanica Bonnaterre, Enc. Méth. I, p. 233 (1790).
- Ramier périssé Levaillant, Ois. d'Afr. VI, p. 74, pl. 267 (1808).
- Columba jubata Wagler, Syst. Av., Columba, sp. 22 (1827).
- Alectroenas nitidissima G. R. Gray, List Gen. B., p. 58 (1840).
- Alectroenas franciae Reichenbach, Syn. Av., Columbariae, p. 2, f. 1302 (1847).
- Columbigallus franciae Des Murs, Encycl. d'Hist. Nat., Ois. VI., p. 31, (1854?).
- Ptilopus nitidissimus Schlegel and Pollen, Rech. Faun. Madag., p. 159 (1868).
- Alectroenas nitidissimus G. R. Gray, Hand-list II, p. 228, No. 9164 (1870).
- Alectoroenas nitidissimus A. Newton, P. Z. S. 1879, pp. 2-4.
Sonnerat's original description, translated into English, is as follows: "It is much larger than the European Woodpigeon; the feathers of the head, neck and breast are long, narrow, and end in a point. These feathers are rather curiously constructed, they have the polish, brilliancy, and feel of a cartilaginous blade. I could not, with the aid of a lens, distinguish whether these blades were formed by the conglomeration of the barbules, but we may take it for granted that they are constituted in a like manner to the wing appendages of the Bohemian Waxwing and the cartilaginous blades of Sonnerat's Jungle Fowl. The eye is surrounded by naked skin of a deep red; the back, the wings and the belly are of a dark blue; the rump and tail are of a very bright carmine red; the beak and iris are of the same colour, and the feet are black."
Undoubtedly quite extinct. Only three specimens are known of this bird: one in Edinburgh, one in Paris, and one in Mauritius. Some bones were collected by the Rev. H. H. Slater.
Habitat: Mauritius.
