102 I KKROMIl.-R. 



From the Bloointield I'iiver, North-eastern Queenshuul, Mr. I-'raiik llislop writes: — "The 

 Super!) P'ruit-Pigeoii is found here on the Hats as well as the tops of hills, and lives chiefly on 

 berries, and is very fond of small chillies. It was particularly numerous about Wyalla in 

 1897, after the breeding; season was over. The nest is a frail structure of twigs, and only one 

 egg is laid for a sitting. The nests 1 found were from lifteen to twenty feet from the ground." 



Mr. Ivobt. Grant has handed me the following note : — " We found the Superb Fruit-Pigeon 

 (Plilopus siipci'hus) distributed in all the scrub lands around Cairns, also in similar country in the 

 neighbourhood of Boar Pocket, Lake Eicham, and the Upper Barron River, but at Kamerunga, 

 opposite Double Island, we found it mostly in the large lig-trees. Although fairly scattered 

 all over the above-named districts, we found they evinced a decided preference for the vicinity 

 of running creeks and pools of clear water. The crops and stomachs examined contained 

 more or less perfect specimens of seeds and berries. I have ne\er seen or shot this species 

 anywhere but in (Queensland." 



From Bimbi, Duaringa, (Queensland, Mr. II. G. Barnard has sent me the following note: — 

 " Ptiloptis superhus is plentiful in the scrubs of Cape York-, and ! found it breeding freely 

 there, but strange to say never in the mangroves. The nests were placed at from fifteen to 

 thirty feet from the ground; they seem to favour the large flat leaves of the Palms, the nest 

 resting securely on them, being unobservable from the ground, and are only found by the birds 

 foolishly flying off as one walked underneath. Only a single egg is laid for a sitting, the breeding 

 months being from November to February, at which season the scrubs are full of wild figs and 

 berries." 



The nest is a small frail structure, built in any suitable tree, at a height varying usually 

 from fifteen to thirty feet from the ground. 



Only one egg is laid for a sitting ; it is elongated oval or an ellipse in form, and of a uniform 

 faint creamy-white, the shell being close-grained, smooth and almost lustreless. .An egg in the 

 Australian Museum taken by the late Mr. T. II. Bowyer-Bower, near Cairns, in 1885, measures: — 

 Length \-2 x 0-83 inches. An egg taken by Mr. Ivobt. Hislop, on the 3rd December, 1894, ^^ 

 Wyalla, Bloomfield River District, gives precisely the same measurements. Another one taken 

 by him in the same locality on the loth January, 1895, measures : — Length 1-22 x 0-83 inches. 

 Two eggs from different nests in Mr. S. Robinson's collection, talcen by Mr. \Y. Munt at Marton, 

 near Cooktown, on the 24th [anuary, iijoo, measure : -Length (A) 1-21 x o-Sh inches; (B) 

 i-i8 X o'85 inches. 



Young birds of both sexes resemble the adult female, but are duller in colour, and lack the 

 dark blue spot on the occiput, the upper wing-coverts and inner secondaries are more broadly 

 margined with yellow ; on the under parts the green feathers are frmged with yellow, more 

 broadly on the lower sides of the breast, and the white feathers of the centre of the lower breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts are indistinctly margined or washed with pale yellow. Wing 

 4-7 inches. 



Semi-adult males resemble the adult, but have the top and sides of the head and neck, 

 nape and hind-neck green, and only a slight indication of the dark blue patch on the shoulders; 

 the blue spots on the inner greater wing-coverts are smaller, and are entirely wanting on the 

 innermost secondaries ; the chin and centre of the throat is greyish-white; the fore-neck and 

 upper breast grey, with only a few scattered indigo-blue feathers below it, some ot the feathers 

 on the sides of the foreneck are crossed with the purplish bands, and others on the side of the 

 hind-neck are tipped with rufous-ochreous. Wing 4-8 inches. 



In the Bloomfield River District Messrs. R. and F. Hislop found this species breeding 

 from October until the end of February. .At Cape York Mr. II. G. I'.arnard states that the 

 breeding season is from November to February. There is no record of the date of obtaining 

 the young male at North Shore, Sydney, but it was undoubtedly bred in the State. 



