1'20 I'KHlsTKIilD.V;. 



The nest is a frail structure, usually about ten feet from the .ground, and the ec;ss may be seen 

 by a person under the nest. I always found them near a river. They are met with in 

 considerable numbers in the vicinity of the Murray, Murrumbidt,'ee and Wimmera Ki\ers in 

 South-eastern Australia." 



Mr. Tom Carter writes : — " Specimens of Gi'opclia tydnqnilla were obtained on the (iascoyne 

 River, North-western Australia, in January, njoi, but it was not noted elsewhere." 



The nest is a frail and almost Hat structure of thin twi^s, placed crosswise or loosely 

 interlaced together, averaging three or four inches in diameter, and may be placed in a low bush 

 near the ground, within hand's reach, or in a tree from twelve to twenty feet up. Mr. H. (i. 

 Barnard records finding it at an altitude of si.xty feet. At Copmanhurst, on the I'pper Clarence 

 Iviver, Mr. Geo. Savidge found a nest containing two young ones built inside a deserted nest 

 of the Magpie Lark (Giallina picata). 



The accompanying figure is reproduced from a photograph taK-en by Mi. Savidge on the 

 27th March, 1905, of a nest built in a tree o\-erhanging the river, opposite the wharf at 

 Copmanhurst. 



Eggs, two in number for a sitting, of a rounded-oval or swollen ellipse in funn. pure white, the 

 shell being close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. A set of two taken by Mi. H. G. Barnard, 

 at Coomooboolaroo, Duaringa, Queensland, on the 21st November, iSi)2, measures :— Length 

 (.■\) 0-82 X 07 inches; (B) o-8 x 0-67 inches. A set of tw(j taken by Mr. |. .\. Boyd, at Ripple 

 Creek-, Herbert River, on the 3rd February, 1893, measures: — Length (A) o-N4 x 07 inches; 

 (B) 0-87 X 0-67 inches. A set of two taken on the Gwydir River, New South Wales, on the 

 gth November, 1897, measures: — Length (A) o'S3 x 07 inches; (B) o-.s_|. < 0-71 inches. 



The nestling resembles the adult, but is generally duller in colour, the black barrings on the 

 feathers of the back are broader, the upper wing-coverts are narrowly edged, and the secondaries 

 broadly margined, with pale brown at the tip; the feathers on the crown of the head are pale 

 brown, submarginally bordered with black, and narrowly tipped with white : all the under 

 surface dull white, the blackish cross-bars on the fore-neck being broader and not so well 

 defined. Total length 3 inches, wing 2'35, tail f6. 



In (Queensland Mr. Barnard states the breeding season is from September to April, and 

 Mr. Boyd took eggs there in February. In New South Wales nests with eggs or young are 

 more frequently found in the spring and summer months, hut Mr. S. Robinson informs me that 

 the breeding season is regulated by the rainfall, and like Oiypluips lopliotcs and other species, he 

 has found nests with eggs or young in all seasons of the year, and so has Mr. George Sa\idge. 



Geopelia cuneata. 



LIITLE TURTLE Di.iVE 



Cc/iDiihd ciniialii, Lath, Iiul. (_)rn., Siippl.., p. Ixi. (1802). 



(Jeiipelin lunicntii, (^o\l\d, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 74 (1818); Salvad., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus , 

 V^ol XXr., p. 40-2 (181)3) ; Sharps-, Hand-l. Bds., Vol. L, p. SO (1899). 



Sfic/.o/if/ia i-uHfata, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. IF., p. 14'i (ISCi'i). 



Adult male. — General culoiir nlxiri' /mlr hroirn ; upper /riiiff-cnrerfs iliirk ijri'ij, spotted imth 

 >rliUe tinrroivly encirded rvith hlack : the scnpiJurs pn/f liroirii mid aimilnrl ij nmrked ; primaries 

 hroiru, thfir inner irebs riijint!<-cimiaini>ii, fxei'pt iit ihnr tiptt: iriilrnl tui/len/lir'r.s pale hrotni, 

 paxsinij iiitu dark brou'ii on their apical purtwn, tlie remaiiiiler (frnjinh-ldack lurr/eh/ tippe<i with, 

 ■ivhite, which increases in extent to'imirds tlip outermost feather 011 either side : /irad, neck, and breast 



