16 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, 



III._On the NIDIFICATION of MEGALOPREPIA 

 MAGNIFICA, THE MAGNIFICENT FRUIT PIGEON. 



Columbia magnifica, Temm., Trans. Linn. See. xiii. p. 125(1821). 



Carpophaga magnifica, Gould, Bds, Austr. v. pi. 58 (1848). 



Megaloprepia magnifica, Salvad., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. xxi. 

 p. 167 (1893). 



The Magnificent Fruit Pigeon is freely dispersed throughout 

 the rich coastal brushes of Eastern Australia, from the neighbour- 

 hood of Cairns in North-eastern Queensland to Berry in New 

 South Wales. In the latter colony it is far more frequently met 

 with in that rich belt of luxurious vegetation lying between the 

 Tweed and Bellinger Rivers, than it is in the humid valleys and 

 mountain ranges of the south coastal district. At Cairns it over- 

 laps the closely allied, but decidedly smaller species M. assimilis, 

 which ranges northward from that locality to Cape York. 



Although M. magnifica is plentifully distributed throughout 

 these brushes nothing has hitherto been recorded of its nidification. 

 For an opportunity of examining a nest and egg of this species I 

 am indebted to Mr. George Savidge, a most enthusiastic oologist, 

 who has lately found this fine Pigeon breeding on the Upper 

 Clarence. Mr. Savidge has also forwarded me a skin of the 

 female shot at the nest, together with the following notes relative 

 to procuring the nest and egg : — 



" Having been told by some timber-drawers that they had 

 discovered three nests of Megaloprepia magnifica at Pine Scrub, 

 Oaky Creek, Upper Clarence, each with a single egg, and upon 

 which the birds were sitting, I determined to pay a visit to these 

 scrubs to search for the nests. Accompanied by a friend, Mr. 

 Thos. Woods, and an aboriginal called Freddy, we started at 

 daylight on the morning of November 8th, 1896, and arrived at 

 our destination, twenty-five miles distant a little after ten. Several 

 nests were seen but they contained neither eggs or young, and after 

 a long search we decided upon going further into the scrub. The 

 peculiar call of M. magnifica could be heard on all sides, and at last 

 after searching for several hours we saw one fly from a tree about 

 twenty-five yards in advance. Upon nearing the tree we dis- 

 covered the nest, and the egg could be plainly seen in it. Wishing 

 to obtain the bird we sat down for some time, but eventually 

 decided to move lower down the creek into closer concealment, as 

 I thought the bird might be watching us and would not return. 

 After waiting a quarter of an hour we observed the Pigeon fly 



