didunculus

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A remarkable genus of pigeons, constituting the subfamily Didunculinœ of the family Columbidœ, or made the type of different family, Didunculidœ. It is considered to be the nearest living representative of the dodo, whence the name. The genus is also called Gnathodon, from the denticulation of the lower mandible. The tooth-billed pigeon of the Samoan islands, D. strigirostris, is the only species; it is already a rare bird, and is likely to become extinct. The color is blackish; the total length is about 14 inches; the beak, besides being toothed, is remarkably large and strong, with a very convex culmen, like that of a bird of prey.