1:24 



FEKISTEHID.t;. 



George Masters recording specimens collected near I'ort l^arwin by the late Mi. J. Spalding. It is 

 common un the Cape ^'orli I'eninsula, in North-eastern ( jueensland ; Mr. PVank Hislop informs 

 ine that it is found both in the forest and scrub in the Illoomheld River District. Messrs. E. J. 

 Cairn and Robt. Grant found it plentiful in the scrubs at the back of Cairns and on Mount 

 Bellenden Ker. Mr. J. A. Boyd, while resident at Ripple Creek, Herbert River, reports meetinf; 

 with it in the scrulis, and lindini,' a nest with one youn;,' one on the gth October, 1893, and the 

 late Mr. George Barnard had a nest with the eggs taken for him at Duaringa, on the Dawson 

 River. It occurs throughout South-eastern Queensland, and the northern coastal districts of 

 New South W^'iles, where I ha\'e met with it in numbers from the Tweed River to as far south 



lUKU TKAP. 



as the Hawkesbury River. I have never seen or heard of its recent occurrence near the 

 metropolis, although for!iieily this I'igeon could be obtained at Rand wick' and Long Bay. 



It is strictly terrestrial in habits, and is ne\er found in the dry inland parts of the continent, 

 and is remarkably tame, even in well frequented districts. In New South Wales I first met 

 with this species at Copmanhurst, on the Upper Clarence River, in November, i8g8, where it 

 was tolerably common in the scrubs, and where Mr. George Sa\idge has found a number of its 

 nests and eggs. In the following year 1 found it far more numerous in the brushes at Ourimbah, 

 and from then on to the end of 1901. In this locality these birds were frequently observed 

 feeding on the roadside or about the entrance of the tents in a timber drawer's camp. They were 

 not easily disturbed ; on one occasion one kept walking just ahead of me for about forty yards, 



