HISTRIOPHAPS. 



\ys 



Histriophaps histrionica. 



HAKLEtniN' liRONZE-WING. 

 C<diiml)(v ( Perislera) histrionica, Gould, Proc. /ool. Soc, 1840, p. 114. 

 /''■ristera his/rionica, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 66 (1848). 

 r/taps /,is/rio7iica, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. 11., p. 127 (1865); North, Proc. Limi. 



Soc. N.S.W., Slid Ser., Vol. 111., p. 148 (1888). 

 //ts'rio/iha/js /lislriouica, Salvad., Cat. lids. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXF., p. 5-29 (189:^;; Sliarpe, Haiul-I. 

 Bds., Vol. L, p. 84 (1899). 

 Adult .m.\LB. — (ri'ii'-ra/ colour (iltoc (•iitnamon liroira : ii/i/ht iriiof-rui-fii-fn lik'dip hark, the oiilrr 

 ^rrirs (t.nd edge of thr winy hluisliijrn/ ; (inillf greij, externally etlynl ii-itli cinnn.mou-liro/mi, the inner 

 jirintaries hlarkishlmnrn ton-arda ihr'tr rxtremifirs and harluy a spot of n'hile. at the lip ; the aptnd 

 portion, of the outer webs of the inner secondaries metaUir-ijreeH, passing into c.opjiery-pnrple on the 

 innermost ones: central tail-feathers cinnrimondirox'n, the remainder grep crossed nnth a subn./ncal 

 hiackish hand and tipped n'ith irhit'^ : foehead, sinripiit, a line of Jeathers e.rteuding behind the eye, 

 and almost encircling the ear-corerts jinre white : remainder of the head, chin and n.j>per throat black : 

 a rresrentic marking on the lotver throat white ; remainder of the wider .surface and the under n'lng- 

 coverts bluish-grey : under tail-Coverls pale butt', greyish at the base. Total length IV.to inches, n-ing 

 S, tail -.IS, bill t)-7;i, tarsus 1. 



Adult female. — " The female has only a faint indieatiou of the markings n-hirh o,dorn the male, 

 anil is altogether less brilliant in her apjiearance '' (Gould;. 



Z)/;*7c(;/)«i'ioH.— North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Queensland, 

 New South Wales, North-eastern portion of South .Australia. 



/-l^llh: Marlequin Bronze-wing, or "Flock Pigeon" of the interior, is widely distributed, 

 -L principally over the greater portion of the northern half of the Australian continent. 



It is nomadic in habits, appearing in 

 some districts during certain seasons, 

 and then perhaps being absent for many 

 years. Gould discovered this species, 

 hrst meetnig with it on the ind Decem- 

 ber, 1839, while encamped on the banks 

 of the Mokai, a river which rises in the 

 Liverpool Range and falls into the 

 Nainoi, and subsequently he saw an 

 immense tlock on the plains that skirt 

 the Nundewar Range. Although on 

 several occasions \isiting the latter 

 neiglibourhood, I have never been fortu- 

 nate enough to meet with this species, 

 but I was informed it appeared in large 

 numbers in the neighbourhood of the 

 Gwydir River, in 1893, feeding around tanks and dams, chieH.y on the seeds of the Nardoo 

 plant ( Mavsilea qiiadrifolin). This seed is also collected and ground down and eaten by the 

 aborigines of the western plains, and was partaken of by the ill-fated members of the Burke 

 and Wills Expedition. Care must be taken not to confound tlie present species with the " Flock 

 Figeon " (Lopholamus antaritiius) of the coastal brushes of Eastern .Australia. 

 34 



HARLEQUIN BRONZE-WINC 



