NESTS AND EGGS O? AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



675 



Notwithstanding birds arc numerous, there are only a few authenti- 

 cated eggs known. Maybe; the birds, like some of the rai'er Fniit 

 Pigeons, seek a nesting place in the recliLse shade of the dense wilderness 

 of foliage', wlierc the finding of a nest is merely a matter of chance. 



The fii'st authenticated egg of the Pheasant Pigeon was found by 

 Mr. H. R. Elvery, Richmond River, November, 1884, and is now in my 

 son's collection. But it was not described at the time, which gave 

 Mr. North the opportunity of first describing in the "Records" of the 

 Austi'aliau Museum another example found by Mr. W. J. Giime, in the 

 Tweed River scrub during the season 1890-91. 



Mr. North remarks that " Young birds were obtained by 

 Messrs. Cairn and Grant in the sciiibs that clothe the sides of the Mus- 

 grave and Russell Rivers in tropical Queensland, during November, 1887. 

 Mr. Meston, in his Report of the Scientific Expedition to Bellenden-Ker, 

 in the near vicinity, records finding it breeding diu'ing Febiiiai-y, 1889, 

 on thei South Peak of the Range, at an elevation of from foiu- thousand to 

 five thousand feet, in tne tops of ti'ee-ferns, each nest containing a single 

 egg or young Pigeon. 



" For an opportunity of examining an egg of this species I am 

 indebted to Mr. W. J. Grime, who, in the brushes of the Tweed River, 

 found a nest placed on a mass of lawyer vines (Calamus australis), about 

 six feet from the groimd, from which he flushed the bird." 



The egg in my collection was taken near Rous, Richmond River, 19th 

 November, 1896, by Mr. W. T. Bailey. The following are the data 

 that accompanied the specimen : — " I took the egg of the Lai'ge-tailed 

 Pigeon. Tlie bird makes a large nest, somewhat flat on top, like those 

 of other Pigeons, but funnel-shaped, ranning downwards to a point. 

 I could not reach the nestj as it was built in the fork of three brandies, 

 at the top of a tall and slender sapling — too thin to climb. The tree 

 iiad to be felled and lowered piecemeal. When the nest was within 

 reach I introdi.eed my hand and could feel nothing, but on looking in 

 I saw the egg, which, by the jarring of the chopping, had worked its 

 way downward through the sticlcs into the neck of the funnel, so to speak, 

 where I ffot it all riafht." 



FAMILY— PERTSTERTD^. 



Sub-family — Geopeliin^. 



541. — Geopelia humerai.is, Temminck. — (471) 

 BARRED-SHOULDERED DOVE. 



Fi<;iire. — Gniild : Birds nf .\iislralia, fnl., vnl. v., pi. 72. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxi., p. 4155. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — *Gilbert — Gould : Birds of Australia 

 (1848). also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 145 (1865); Campbell: 

 Victorian Naturalist (1888) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 27S 

 (iSSq). 



Geographical Di-^frihufion. — Au.stralia, except South and Victoria; 

 also New Guinea. 



• No dimensions given, 



