CiKOPELIA. 117 



shot it. Botli birds were, however, moultin;,' and unfit to mal'ie up for skins. Later on I 

 observed these birds feeding,' on the road side near Riverstone, and also saw a few pairs in forest 

 country near Kamerunga, on tlie liarron River." 



Mr. H. G. Barnard sent the followin<^ note from R>inibi, Daarins^a, Queensland, in April 

 1910: — -"The Barred-shouldered Dove (GeopcUa humeralis), in favoured localities and good 

 seasons, breeds all the year round. Many years ago we reared a pair of these birds at Coomoo- 

 boolaroo, taken from a nest in the scrub two miles from the homestead. When full grown the 

 birds were let out of the cage, and they remained in the gariien. In course of time they bred, 

 and in a few years they became so numerous a lot of them had to be shot, as they scratched up 

 all seed as soon as it was planted. They bred at any time of the year, built the usual flat stick 

 structure, and laid two eggs tor a sitting." 



From Melbourne, N'ictoria, Mr. G. A. Keartland sent me the following notes: — "Along the 

 course of the Fit/.roy Ri\er, in West Kimberley, North-western .Australia, I saw many Barred- 

 shouldered Doves, either singly or in pairs, hut never in flocks. They search the ground for all 

 sorts of fallen seed, and the small black figs so common near the river. When hunger is 

 appeased they generally perch on some horizontal branch, about thirty feet from the ground, 

 and after preening their feathers pass a considerable time in sleep, with their heads low down on 

 their shoulders. W'hen mating or nesting they keep changing from ground to tree. In building 

 their nest the male gathers and carries the twigs to the female, who constructs the fragile nest 

 in a horizontal forked branch. Both birds take their turn in hatching the eggs, but whilst the 

 female is sitting the male often feeds her. They also share the task of feeding the nestlings, 

 which leave the nest when about twenty days old." 



The nest is a frail structure of thin twigs, placed in a bush or low tree, or, according to 

 Gilbert, on the lower leaves of the Pandaniis. 



The eggs, two in number for a sitting, vary from oval to an ellipse in form, pure white, the 

 shell being close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. A set in my collection taken by the 

 late Mr. George Barnard, at Coomooboolaroo, in 1883, measures: — Length (A) i'i2 x o'Sg 

 inches; (B) i-2 x o-g inches. Another set taken by Mr. Barnard in the same locality, on the 

 2nd July, 1890, measures : — Length (.A) i-ii x 0-87 inches; (B) i-o8 x 0-85 inches. A set 

 taken by Mr. R. Hislop, at Wyalla, lHoomheld River, North-eastern Queensland, on the ist 

 January, 1896, measures: — Length (A) riS x 0-83 inches; (B) 1-15 x 0-87 inches. .Another 

 set taken by Mr. Hislop in the same locality on the 5th December, 1897, measures: — Length 

 (.A) 1-09 x 078 inches; (B) 1-13 x 07S inches. A set in the Macleay Museum, at the 

 University of Sydney, taken in New South Wales, measures: — Length (A) i'07 x o-86 inches; 

 (B) I'ob X 0'85 inches. 



As pointed out by Mr. H. G. Barnard, in favourable seasons this species breeds at any time 

 in Eastern Australia. In addition to the dates quoted above, the late Mr. George Barnard 

 informed me that he found a nest with young on the 24th April, 1888. Sets were also received 

 taken by Mr. H. G. Barnard on the i4tli December, iSgi, and the 19th March and 14th 

 October, 1893. 



Geopelia tranquilla. 



PEACEFUL DOVE. 



(reopeliit frnnqniUa, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1844, p. .J6 : id., Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 73 



(I.S48); kl, Hiuidhk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. 144 (1865) ; 8aivacl., Cat. Bds. Brit. .Mus., 



Vol. XXL, p. 456 (1893;; Sharpe, Hand-I. Bd.s., Vol. L, p. 80 (1899). 



Adult .male. — (Jetieral colour above, iitchidiug the xnin/s, ashy-broim, each feather >narijinedrvitli 



black aroii ltd the tip; qnills dark broivn, the outer tcehs of tlie outfr primaries iiarroirlij edyed 



30 



