CIIALCOFIIAFS. I 2j 



In New South Wales September to the end of December is the usual breeding season, but 

 at Mossgiel the late Mr. K. H. Bennett took a nest with fresh eggs on the gth January, 1886. 

 In the Cloncurry District, Northern Queensland, where Dr. \V. Macgillivray informs me these 

 birds are common, the Little Turtle Dove breeds in the spring. At Duaringa Mr. H. G. Barnard 

 found it breeding in June, and in Central .Australia Mr. C. E. Cowie has tal.en eggs from .\pril 

 to the end of July. In hot districts the breeding season is regulated by the rainfall, for Mr. 

 Cowle informed me that during droughts many species do not breed at all. After its breakup, 

 howe\er, and a hea\y downfall, the birds commence to breed almost immediately. In North- 

 western .Australia Mr. Carter noted eggs in nests from May until the middle of September. 



Sub-family PHAEIN^. 



oen-u-s cia:-<^ijC;o:F'i3:^i.i=3. un„hL 

 Chalcophaps chrysochlora. 



LITTLE CJKEEN-WINGED PIGEON. 

 Cuhi.iiiba rlirysoclilura, Wagl., Syst. Av. Coluuih.i, .sp. 79 (18'27). 



Chalcophaps chrysorJJora, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V^., pi. G2 (ISts); Salvad-, Oat. Bds. Brit, 

 Mus., Vol. XXr., p. ,511 (1893) ; .Sharpe, Hand 1. Bcis , Vol. 1., p. 83 (1899). 



Aour.T MALE. — /lead, ftii/fs nf thi' tiifk awl n pprr hack riimns inilli a /inr/Jishr/rri^ shai/f 0)1 ih" 

 nape, hind-neck and centre of upper back : wingt: i/olden-r/rfrn, the smaller winy-coverts on tlo' shoulder 

 while: qudls hrou'ii, the basal portion of thrir inkier webs cinyiaiuon : loicer hack blackish, crossed 

 with tiro uvjl-dejiued (jreij bars : ruuip ami uppir tail-corrrls blackish : tail dusky-bJack, the lateral 

 feathers grey crossed ivith a subteruiinal blackish baud, which is more distinct on the outermost feather 

 oil either side ; chin and upper throat delicate rinojis, trhich becnmes richer in colour on the foreneck 

 and upper breast, and gradually poises into a riniuis grey ou, tlie hiwer breast and abdomru : under 

 tail coverl< greyish-black. Tot(d length in the /fesh lt);5 inches, u-ing il, tail -J'J, bill Oli>, tarsus tOS. 



Adult FKMALK. — Resembles the male, bnt is duller in colour : head and. nil the niuler surface 

 dull ru/ons-brown, becoming richer and darker on the crown of the head and upper back ; upper tail- 

 coverts dull rufons-browu witli dusky-black margins : on the shoulder only a small grey marking on 

 the lesser u-ing-coverts ; tail cliestuut-hrowu, the outerntost feather on either side grei/, duller at the tip, 

 and haring a black subteruiinal band, the next on either side greyish on the outer chestnut-brown on 

 the inner web and tip, and slioiving the reu^ains of a blackish snbterminal band ; chin dull bro?vuish- 

 tvhite ; under tail-coverts hrou-n tinged with rnfois. 



Distribution. — North-western .Australia, Northern Territory of South .Australia, Queensland, 

 New South Wales, South-eastern New Guinea, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Lord Howe 

 Island. 



•'(5>^ (J I'LD'S vernacular name of Little Green Pigeon for the present species is not quite 

 V_-X correct, for its wings only are green, and I have therefore substituted for it that of the 

 Little Green-winged Pigeon. It is widely disttibuted throughout the coastal and contiguous 

 districts of Northern and the greater part of Plastern ^Australia; it is also found on Lord Howe 

 Island, and, according to Count Salvadori, in the Timor Group, South-eastern Moluccas, South- 

 eastern New Guinea, New Hebrides and New Caledonia. In the " Catalogue of Birds in the 

 British Museum " Count Salvadori includes Ciould's Chaliophaps loiigirostris as a synonym of the 

 present species, and remarks :— " The birds from the neighbourhood of Port Essington have a 

 longer bill (C. longii'ostris, Gould)." Regarding it, therefore, as a single species, its range e.xtends 

 throughout the northern portion of the Northern Territory of South Australia, the late Mr. 



