692 



NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



The specimen Gilbert first shot must have appeared lovely in his 

 hands, its rich cinnamon-coloiu'ed plimiage, so beautifully relieved with 

 irides of bright orange, and the surroimding naked skin of bright crimson, 

 not to mention the bird's pretty crest and general contour. 



The eggs I oi'iginally described were taken in the Gulf of Carpentaiia 

 country by my friend Mr. T. A. Gulliver. 



This species probably lays at any period of the year, but the principal 

 breeding months, no doubt, include those from October to March. 

 Dr. W. Macgillivray, who has found these Pigeons plentiful in the 

 Cloncuriy Ranges, took eggs usually in October. They were placed on 

 the bare ground, under a spinifex tussock, on the seeds of which the 

 birds feed. 



553. — LoPHOPHAPS FERRUGiNEA, Gould. (468) 



RED PLUMED PIGEON. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, foL, supp. p] 68. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxi., p. 5-^4. 



Previous Descriplions of Eggs. — Campbell : Victorian Naturalist 

 (1S87) ; North : Trans. Roy. Soc, South .Australia, vol. xxii., 

 p. 155 (1898), also Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, vol. xxiii., 

 p. 382 (1898). 



Geagraphical Disfrihutinn. — Interior of South, West, and North- 

 west Austraha. 



NcRt. — A slight depression in the ground, about 3 inches across by 

 1 inch deep, lined with a few needles of spinifex gi-ass, and sheltered by 

 a low bush or bimch of spinifex, usually on sandstone ridges. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two ; elhptical in shape ; texture of shell fine ; surface 

 glossy; colour, light creamy-white. Dimensions of a proper clutch: 

 (i; 102 X -73, (2) 1-0 x -74; of a pair from North-west Australia: 

 (1) 1-0 X -78, (2) •99X-76. 



Ohservations. — The Interior and the West are the homes of this 

 .sprightly little species, which may be distinguished from its congeners 

 by the absence of the white band on the chest. Its iiist-coloured 

 plumage is decidedly protective, matching the red-coloured sand and 

 rocks of the bird's usual surroundings. 



The meagre infonnation rogai-diiig this species was received by Gould 

 from the Messrs. Gregory Brothers, explorers, who stated that the eggs 

 arc generally laid dining the months of July and August. However, 

 my old friend and schoolfellow, Mr. Alfred Walker, manager 

 of Innamincka Station, Cooper's Creek, presented me with the 

 eggs of this little Pigeon, taken 20th October, 1886. The 

 nest was situated on a stony rise about ten paces from the 

 edge of the creek. On the opposite bank was one of tlie depots 

 of the ill-fated explorers, Burke and Wills, at a point of about six miles 



