A blue pigeon recorded as being from Mauritius was brought to the Netherlands around 1790, where it survived in the menagerie of William V, Prince of Orange for three months before dying of oedema. The only known life drawings thought to show the species depict this individual; they were drawn by the Dutch artist Gijsbertus Haasbroek and first published by Piet Tuijn in 1969 (along with the "Gelderland" sketches). The illustrations show a displaying male raising its hackles into a ruff. This is a characteristic behaviour of other blue pigeons, too, and they can also vibrate their hackles. The following description of the display behaviour and calls of this individual was written on the back on the coloured drawing by Arnout Vosmaer, director of the menagerie: