The Choiseul pigeon (Microgoura meeki) is an extinct species that was
endemic to the island of Choiseul in the Solomon Islands. Its closest
living relative is believed to be the thick-billed ground pigeon, and
some authors have suggested that the Choiseul pigeon may be a link
between that species and the crowned pigeons. The adult pigeon was
largely blue-grey, with an orange belly and a distinctive slate-blue
crest. The bird's head sported a blue frontal shield surrounded by black
feathers and a bicoloured beak. It was described as having a beautiful
rising and falling whistling call. It is believed to have been a
terrestrial species that laid a single egg in an unlined depression in
the ground. It roosted in pairs or small groups of three or four in
small shrubs and was reportedly very tame, allowing hunters to pick it
up off its roost. The indigenous peoples reported that the species was
driven to extinction by feral cats, as the pigeon had never previously
confronted a carnivorous mammal on Choiseul. The last unconfirmed report
of a Choiseul pigeon was in the early 1940s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choiseul_pigeon>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1774:
The publication of The Sorrows of Young Werther raised the 24
-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to international fame.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther>
1940:
Two Avro Ansons of No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF
collided in mid-air over Brocklesby, New South Wales, Australia, remain
locked together after colliding, and landed safely (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Brocklesby_mid-air_collision>
1957:
An explosion at the Soviet nuclear reprocessing plant Mayak
released 74 to 1850 PBq of radioactive material.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster>
1962:
Alouette 1, Canada's first satellite, and the first satellite
constructed by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United
States, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_1>
2005:
John Roberts became the 17th Chief Justice of the United
States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Roberts>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ex delicto:
(law) Of a legal obligation: arising from a delict or tort, or some
other wrongful act.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ex_delicto>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth:
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your
prince.
--Book of Daniel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Book_of_Daniel>