. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. THE TRUE I'lGEOXs. â 12:i In the Saiiioan Islands, far from the Mascarene group which contained the fliglitless pigeons, whose ill developed wings afforded them no protection against the cats and ])igs of the colonists, there exists at the present day a bird which is nearly related to the extinct Dodo. This is the Tooth-billed Pigeon (Diduncvlus stri(/iros(ris\ a species wliich seemed a few years ago to b(! decreasing in numbers owing to its living upon the ground, when the bird liecame liable to the fatal onslaughts of eats duiing. SOLITA
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. THE TRUE I'lGEOXs. â 12:i In the Saiiioan Islands, far from the Mascarene group which contained the fliglitless pigeons, whose ill developed wings afforded them no protection against the cats and ])igs of the colonists, there exists at the present day a bird which is nearly related to the extinct Dodo. This is the Tooth-billed Pigeon (Diduncvlus stri(/iros(ris\ a species wliich seemed a few years ago to b(! decreasing in numbers owing to its living upon the ground, when the bird liecame liable to the fatal onslaughts of eats duiing. SOLITAIRE. the night, while its eggs ran the risk of destruction by rats. Within the last ten years, however, this pigeon has entirely changed its liabits, roosting and breeding on high trees. The Rev. S. J. Whitmee, to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of the habits of this species, attributes to it intelligence. " This intelligence," he writes, " seems to have enabled the bird to change its habits for self-preservation. It has probably been frightened when roosting, or during incubation, by the attacks of cats, and has sought safety in the trees. Learning, from frequent repetition of tin fright, that the gi-ound is a dangerous place, it has acquired the habit of building, roosting, and feeding upon the high trees ; and this cliange of habit is now operating for the preservation of this interesting bird, which was a few years ago almost ;. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Duncan, P. Martin (Peter Martin), 1821-1891; Metcalf Collection (North Carolina State University). NCRS. London [etc] Cassell & Company, Limited
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
