98 TRKKONIlJ.*;. 



J'liere is hut little \atiation in a miinber of specimens now before me from diflereiit parts 

 of Nortli-eastern Australia. Chiefly it is in tlie extent of the Hlac marl^•int; on the l)reast ; in 

 some it is narrow and band-lil<e, in others it assumes tlie form of a central spot. The \vin<i- 

 measurements of adult males vary from y2 to 5-45 inches. In two specimens marked adult 

 females, the sil\ery-}^rey tips to the pale Rreen feathers on the foreneck are almost entirely 

 absent, and the rose-pink cap on the head is destitute of the usual yellow border at the sides 

 and hinder portion. 



Mr. Robert Grant lias handed me the following' notes :—" While C'llectint; in company 

 with Mr. E. J. Cairn in iSSS, we found Swainson's Fruit-Pigeon ( Ptilopus s-waiiiiuni ) in all the 

 coastal scrubs in the neij,'hbourhood of Cairns, North-eastern Queensland, and very often in 

 company witli the .Allied Fruit Pi;:eon ( Mcj^alopnpia nssimilis), feeding on the tig and other 

 fruit and berry-bearing trees. (3n one occasion I saw three of these Fruit-Pigeons feeding on 

 the top of a tram line tliat ran tlirough tlie scrub to and from the Pyramid Sugar Plantation at 

 lvi\erstone; this is the only time 1 have seen this species feeding on tlie ground. We also found 

 them in the scruti on the table lands. In New South Wales I have shot Swainson's Fruit- 

 Pigeon on the Bellinger and Nambucca Rivers, and have also had specimens sent me from the 

 Macleay and iManning Rivers. I skinned a specimen shot at Wyee, on the Newcastle Railway 

 line, seventy-one miles north of Sydney, and this is the farthest south I have known this bird 

 to occur. The crops and stomachs of specimens examined contained small fruits, berries and 

 seeds, mixed with a little gravel. 



Mr. H. R. Elvery writes me as follows from Alstonville, New South Wales: — "Ptilopus 

 s?i'aiiisoiii is a migratory species, arriving in the big scrub district of the Richmond River to 

 breed about the beginning of November. During the season 1909 the first note heard of this 

 species was on the 3rd November, and after that date saw the liirds in numbers. Locally the 

 species is known as the ' Pink-headed Do\ e.' The nest is a small structure, and difficult to find, 

 unless the bird is flushed, or obser\ed on the nest, and I have never known more than one egg 

 to be deposited in a nest. The nests are placed at vaiying heights from the ground; my 

 expeiience has been from ten to fifty feet. The nest is sometimes placed near the upright stem 

 of a tree, but more olten on a horizontal limb, or on a growth of vines, and frequently the scoop 

 has to lie used to secure the egg. 1 have taken six eggs of this pigeon in December and two in 

 January. After the t:ireeding season the birds return northwards." 



From Copmanhurst, New South Wales, Mr. George Savidge wrote me: — "Swainson's 

 Fruit-Pigeon (Ptilopus si.iiiiiisoiii) is sparingly dispersed in the Clarence River District. I have 

 seen specimens on Susan Island, opposite Grafton, also in the scrub on Allipon Creek, close to 

 South Grafton, and several times close to Copmanhurst ; also in the larger scrubs on the Upper 

 Clarence. This Pigeon is not easily found, its green and yellow coat harmonising so well with 

 the foliage of the scrubs it inhabits. Its food consists of different kinds of berries and fruit, the 

 ' black hickory ' berry being a special favourite." 



The nest is usually a frail structure of thin twigs loosely interwoven together, and placed in 

 a horizontal forked limb of a tree or on a mass of vines. 



Only one egg is laid for a sitting. It is an ellipse in form, white, the shell being 

 close-grained, smooth and lustrous. .An egg taken by Mr. liertie Hislop, at the Bloomfield 

 River, North-eastern Queensland, measures : — Length i-26 x o'82 inches. An egg in Mr. S. 

 Robinson's collection, taken by Mr. George Savidge on the 21st October, 1904, measures: — 

 Length f32 x o'.S5 inches. 



Young birds of both sexes resemble the adults, but ha\e the top and sides of the head, neck- 

 and hind-neck green like the back ; the upper wing-coverts are green edged with yellow, and 

 there is no dark blue spot towards the tips of the scapulars ; chin and centre of the throat 



