MACHOPVGIA. |]g 



\'ines {Cahimns anstnilis) about six feet from the ^-round, from which he Hushed the bird. Tlie 

 nest, he informs me, was a very primitive structure, bein^ simply a few sticks placed crosswise, 

 without any cavity, and barely sufficient to retain the single e-g it contained in position. The late' 

 Mr. \V. S. Day forwarded me a nest and egg taken by him at Boar Pocket, near Cairns, North- 

 eastern Queensland, nn the jnd January, iSg., accompanied by the followmg note :-" .Vmr,./>i-w 

 pitastandla is common at Riverstone, Boar Pocket, and on tlie Upper and Lower I^Iussell 'and 

 Mulgrave Rivers ; also at the foot of Mount Bellenden Ker and Mount Bartle Frere,but I did not 

 observe it on the sumnnt of either of these mountains. Generally it is seen, except in the breeding 

 season, in (locks of ten to fifteen or more following the fruit as it gets ripe in different parts o'f 

 the scrub. These birds are, as a rule, very good eating, but I shot some in August that were so 

 bitter that it put one's teeth on edge to put the cooked flesh in the mouth. These birds may be 

 found breeding in opposite seasons of the year. I found a nest on the loth June, 1891, in a 

 Lawyer V'ine in the scrub, but broke the egg in trying to get at the nest. On the 4th' July 

 following found a nest seven feet from the ground, on the top of a fern trunk, where the leaves 

 grow out, containing a single young one. The nest and egg sent you I found on a Lawyer 

 Vine, eight feet from the ground, on the 2nd January, iSg.. In each instance the bird did not 

 leave the nest until I was right under it." The nest forwarded by Mr. Day agrees very well 

 with the one described by Mr. Grime, for a more primitive structure I have'never seen ; it 

 consisted of some straggling thin sticks and twigs loosely interlaced, almost flat, and averaging 

 seven inches in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. Were it not that it was placed on 

 top of some Lawyer Vines, the egg would have been easily visible from beneath the nest. That 

 Pigeon's nests vary in build, and even in the number of eggs laid in different localities, may be 

 proved in several instances. Mr. George Savidge sent me the following note :-" I found a nest 

 of .\fcKropy^ia pluniamlhi on the yth November, 1897, by seeing the bird flying from it. It was 

 placed in a thick fork of a scrub tree, close to the trunk, about fifteen feet from the ground. 

 The nest was constructed of sticks and twigs piled up similar to the bottom part of the nest of 

 Mcgabpnpia magnifica, the top was flat and small, averaging five inches in diameter, and it 

 contained one egg. I shot the bird to see if the full complement was laid, as I have heard 

 sometimes two eggs are laid for a sitting." 



One egg is usually laid for a sitting, rarely two. They are an ellipse in form, of a dull white 

 or faint creamy-white, the shell being close-grained and the surface smooth; some are lustreless, 

 others are slightly glossy. Three average specimens taken in New South Wales measure 

 respectively :-Length (A) 1-35 x 0-97 inches ; (B) 1-4 x 0-97 inches; (C) 1-38 x 0-98 inches. 

 The egg taken by the late Mr. W. S. Day on the 2nd January, 1892, at Boar Pocket, North- 

 eastern Queensland, is distinctly smaller, measuring only 1-25 x 0-83 inches. An e-- laken on 

 the 9th November, 1897, at Cangai, Upper Clarence District, from a nest in a fork o^ a scrub- 

 tree hfteen feet from the ground, in Mr. George Savidge's collection, is a lengthened ellipse in 

 form, slightly lustrous, and of a uniform very faint creamy-white. It measures :-Length 1-47 

 X 0-97 inches. 



Young birds resemble the adults, but have a longer bill, the feathers on the nape and hind- 

 neck cinnamon-brown transversely barred with black ; the scapulars are submarginally bordered 

 with black ; the primaries are narrowly edged, and the secondaries broadly margined with 

 reddish-chestnut; the upper tail-coverts show remains of broken blackish barrings, and which 

 are more distinct near the ends of the longest coverts; chm dull white; all the under surface 

 reddish-cinnamon, slightly richer in colour than in the adult. Length 12-5 inches win- 6-7 

 tail 6-5, bill 0-9. ' o /, 



In New South Wales the breeding season is towards the end of the year, nests with e--s or 

 young usually being found in November or December. In North-eastern OueenslandTiests 

 with eggs or young have been found in November, January, February, June and July 



