LOPHOLiEMUS. 10',> 



throui,'hout tlie scrubs on the mainland, where tiiey mostly only remain during the day and 

 return to their nests on the islands at niglit, but I did observe a few nesting on the mainland, one of 

 which was twenty-five miles inland in open forest country, and the nest was placed about forty 

 feet from the ground, in a large Eucalyptus." 



One egg is laid for a sitting. They \ary from an ellipse to an elongate-oval in form, the 

 shell being close-grained and smooth, some specimens being dull and lustreless, others slightly 

 glossy. Five average specimens taken by Captain Proctor on North Barnard Island, in 

 December, 18S9, measure respectively : — Length (A) iS x f3 inches; (B) 1-83 x 1-2 inches; 

 (C) i'85 < 1-27 inches; (D) 1-74 x 1-2 inches; (E) 1-84 x 1-21 inches. In comparison 

 with its size this species lays the largest egg of any Australian Pigeon. 



Gilbert found this species breeding at Port Essington in November, Mr. J. A. E^oyd found 

 a single nest and egg at Ripple Creek as early as the nth October, and Captain Proctor took 

 many eggs on the North Barnard Island in December. The breeding season in .Australia 

 would therefore appear to extend from October until the end of January or February. 



Lopholaemus antarcticus. 



TOP- KNOT PIGEON. 



Cdhimlia nntarctica, Shaw, /ool. New Holl., pi. 5 (1793). 



Lopliolahniis aiUdrclicns, Gould, lids. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. Gl (1848) ; ('r/., Gould, Haudbk. Bds. 

 Austr., Vol. II., p. IIG (ISG;-)), 



Loph'il(ein>i,s autarc/iciis, Salvad., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol X.XI., p. 23-5 (1893) ; Sharps, Hand-1. 

 Bds., Vol. I., p. 68 (1899). 



Adult iMALE. — Gewrdl culour abov, luchidlng tlif tippur iviny-covefts wid iuiinrmost secondaries 

 dntu-rirey : remiiiitder of thf' qiiil/s hlack : basa! portion of the tail-fealliers greij the reniiinder black, 

 crossed in the cenlrp ii'ith a nnrroiv bii(f'y-yrei/ band : frontal crest dark '/rey : occipit'il crest rust-red, 

 bordered around with a band of black ; chin dark silvery-yreij ; sides of the neck, hind-neck and a^l 

 the nnder snrface yrey, the feathers of the hind-neck and breast iliiclosin'j, more particularly on, the 

 former, their black bases : bill bright rose-red ; fleshy protnberan.ces at tit", base of lh,e upper and lower 

 mandible greenisli-blue : legs and fii carmine-red. Total lenijtli. in the dcsh 17 inches, wing 10 S, 

 tail 7, bill 0iJ5, tarsns !•■>. 



Adult FRMALE. — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Disirihntion. — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria. 



^^1I1'2 Top-knot or " Flock Pigeon," as it is often called, is essentially an inhabitant of the 

 rich coastal brushes of Eastern .-Vustralia, its range e.xtending from Cape York, the 

 northernmost point of the continent, to South-eastern Victoria ; it has also occurred as a straggler 

 in Tasmania. It is, however, more abundantly dispersed throughout the luxuriant brushes of 

 Eastern (Queensland and the northern coastal districts of New South Wales than elsewhere. 

 This Pigeon is nomadic in habits, appearing generally in countless numbers in each district 

 when the wild fig and palm are in full bearing, and following up the different fruit and seed- 

 bearing trees. One week the birds may be seen in thousands, the next there will not be one left 

 in the district after the food supply has given out. In some seasons the Top-laiot Pigeons are 



