N£STS A.VD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 67 1 



either one egg or one young one in each nest, and I have never yet 

 seen two, although I have looked carefully. There was the continual 

 uninterrupted cooing all day long all over the island, which would give 

 some idea of the great number of birds required to produce it. A few 

 of the eggs were fresh, but most were sat on, and sonic of the young 

 Pigeons were commencing to fly." 



Referring to birds breeding on the mainland, in the " Records " 

 of the Australian iluscum it is stated that Mr. J. A. Boyd (Herbert 

 River) found these birds sometimes breeding in the open forests, and 

 has obtained young Pigeons miles from the coast. 



Shooting parties sometimes go out from Townsville and other 

 coastal towns to enjoy an outing among these Pigeons. As the birds 

 are breeding, it is to be hoped that these excursions are not too 

 frequent, else these beautiful birds may be in danger of being too much 

 disturbed, and so quit their familiar abodes for ever. 



Breeding sea.son November to January. 



538. — LoPHOL^Mus ANT.vRCTicus, Shaw. — (458) 

 TOP-KNOT PIGEON. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v., pi. 61. 



Rfjerence. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxi., p. 235. 



Previous Description.': of Eggs. — North: Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 271 

 (1889) ; Campbell : I'roc. Roy. Soc, Victoria, vol. v., new 

 ser., p. 126 (1893). 



Geographical I))s:trihution. — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria 

 and Tasmania (casual). 



Xext. — A platform of fairly stout twigs placed in a tall tree. 

 Dimensions. 8 to 10 inches across by about 3 inches in thickness. 



J^flfl'^- — Clutch, one; elliptic<il in form, with sometimes the ends 

 peculiarly pointed, especially the smaller, which nips off suddenly ; 

 textiu-e of shell somewhat granular ; surface glossy ; colour, pearly-white. 

 Dimensions in inches: (1) 1-76 x 1-21. (1) 1-65 x M4. (3) 1-64 x"M6. 



Observation.^. — The habitat of the Top-knot Pigeon is the coastal 

 sei-ub generally, from Cape York to the Gippsland Lakes, notwithstand- 

 ing some authorities persistently omit Victoria from its range. 

 Occasionally stragglers reach Tasmania. 



It is a significant fact that altliough tliese grand Pigeons are plentiful 

 in some localities, the eggs are I'axe in collections. So numerous were 

 they one season (1890) in the neighbourhood of the Tweed River, that 

 one field observer states : — "Flocks of them, numbering thousands, could 

 be seen, during September, flying round at any time through the day from 

 the mountains to the coast and back." However, they are said to be 

 scarce in the Tropics. 



