6^8 NESTS A.VD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



543. — GiiopELiA cuNEATA, Latliaiii. — (474) 

 LITTLE DOVE. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v., pi. 74. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxi., p. 462. 



Previous Descriptions oj Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1S4S) , 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 147 (1865) ; Ramsay : Proc. Linn. 

 Soc, N.S. Wales, vol. vii., p. 54 (1882); North: Trans. Roy. 

 Soc, South Australia, vol. xxii., p. 1555 (iSyS). 



Geoijrayhical Viatrihui'uMi. — Australia iu general. 



Nest. — A small, frail flat structure, usually composed of dry grass, 

 including the flowering portions, and placed in the fork of a low or bushy 

 tree. One collected by Gilbert in Western Australia was composed of 

 a small species of knotty everlasting-like plant, and was placed on the 

 di'ooping gi'ass-lilce leaves of the Xuntlwrrhmu. 



E(/gs. — Clutch, two ; roundish in shape ; texture of shell fine ; 

 surface glossy ; colour, white. Dimensions in inches of proper clutches : 

 A (1) -78 X -6, (2) -75 x -6 ; B (1) -70 x -61, (2) -72 x -59. 



Ohscrvatiunn. — The Little or Turtle Dove — the least among the 

 Australian Pigeon family, — although nowhere plentiful, has been observed 

 throughout Australia, chiefly in the inland portions. 



By reason of its gentle and tame nature, it is a general favourite with 

 the dwellers of the interior, and is prized as a cage bird, frequently being 

 exhibited at shows. It looks vei-y meek, with its cayenne-red colom'ed 

 eyes, surrounded by a naked ring of skin of the same colour. 



Dr. Ramsay states that Mr. John S. Ramsay found the Little Dove 

 breeding in numbers at Cardington Station, on the Bell River. The 

 nests were placed on the flattened tops of the vine stakes in the vineyard, 

 and the birds were so tame that they would almost allow themselves to 

 be taken by hand. 



During the Horn Scientific Expedition to the Interior, 1894, 

 Mr. G. A. Keartland's notes of the Little Dove were : " Many nests 

 containing young were foimd and appreciated by om- bl.-K'ks as good food. 

 Tlie sites selected for breeding were generally the debris in the low 

 shrubs near water, where the birds either hollowed the surface sligiitly 

 or added a few pieces of grass to keep the eggs from rolling off." 



Mr. Keartland met this dear little Dove again breeding at the Fitzroy 

 River (North-west), where nests were found, containing eggs or young, 

 from January to the middle of March. The nest, a very frail structure, 

 is usually placed on the horizontal branch of a bauhinia-trcc, and 

 con.sisls of a few small twigs or grass-stems, so loosely thrown together 

 that the eggs may be seen from beneath, and so flat on top that it is 

 a didicult matter to bend the limb without causing the eggs to fall. 



The Little Dove .sometimes breeds during winter; but the chief 

 breeding season is, no doubt, the spring and sinnimn- months. 



