140 I'KRISTKKII).«. 



in 1901, found this species breeding;, in dilTerent parts of this district, on several occasions during 

 the progress of the Expedition. 



Gould quotes the following notes of Gill^ert relatixe loCcopliaps siiiitliii :— " Like G. scnpta 

 this bird, which at Port Essington is termed the Partridge, differs considerably from its congeners 

 in its general habits, flight, voice, mode of incubation, and the character of its newly hatched 

 young. It is rather abundant in all parts of the Peninsula, is mostly seen in small lamilies and 

 always on the ground, unless when disturbed or alarmed; it then usually flies into the nearest 

 tree, generally choosing the largest part of a horizontal branch to perch upon. When it rises 

 from the ground its flight is accompanied with a louder flapping or burring than I have observed 

 in other Pigeons. Its note is a coo, so rolled out that it generally resembles the note of a Ouail, 

 and which, like that bird, it scarcely ever utters but when on the ground, where it frequently 

 remains stationary, allowing itself to be almost trod upon before rising. Its favourite haunts 

 are meadows covered with soft grass near water, on the edges of newly burnt brush. It would 

 seem that this species migrates occasionally from one part of the country to another, for during 

 the months of September and October not a single individual was to be seen, while at the time 

 of my arri\'al, and for a month after, they were so abundant that it was a common and daily 

 occurrence for persons to leave the settlement for an hour or two and return with several brace ; 

 in the latter part of November they again appeared, but not so numerous as before, and in the 

 January and February following they were rarely to be met with, and then mostly in pairs 

 inhabiting the long grasses clothing the moister parts of the meadows. It incubates from August 

 to October, making no nest, but merely smoothing down a small part of a clump of grass and 

 forming a slight hollow, in which it deposits two eggs." 



Mr. Percy I'eir sends the following notes from Marrickville, near Sydney : — " I obtained 

 three pairs of Gcophaps smitlii, or " Red-eyed Squatter " as they are locally known in Port Darwin, 

 during November, 1906, arriving more or less damaged about the head through the habit they 

 have of flying up upon the approach of anyone to the aviary or cage in which they may be 

 confined. They made no attempt to breetl tkuing confinement, and although they ate their food, 

 consisting of Canary seed iriixture, readily enough, they seemed to be of a morose disposition, 

 spending the greater part of the day sitting about in a hunched up condition. Some of these 

 birds were forwarded to fanciers in England, arriving safely, and from accounts to hand appear 

 to have thriven despite the cold climate." 



The eggs are elliptical or thick ovals in form, of a faint creamy-white, the shell being close- 

 grained and slightly lustrous. A set of two taken near Pine Creek, in the Northern Territory 

 of South Australia, in September, 1912, measures: — Length (,\) i'22 x o'Sg inches; (B) 

 1-25 X 0-93 inches. 



Oen-as XjO:E=IiOI=ia:-^i..:F'S, R>nchenhnch.] 



Lophophaps plumifera. 



PLUMED BKOi\/,E-WING. 



(Jt'ophaps phnnifrra, Gou\r\, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1S4'J, p. 19; id., I>ds. Austr . fol. Vol. V., pi. (19 

 (1848) ; i,f., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. i-Sri (ISG.'i). 



(Icophnpa Ifucoi/ds/er, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. 8uppl., pi. 69 (ISG'.l). 



Adult m.'^lk. — Gfnem/ rjihm/r ahovi'. pah ciimaii/oii : fcatln'r^ iif fli<> liiiul-'iifick mid ii/ant!'' greyish 

 Iciivard!' //if lipi, irjni'/t in /o/loiivd /)// a i/)dl liroiriiishddack sub/i'i-miual o'oss-har ; (lie tipiper iviiuy- 

 coverts and scapulars crossed in t/ie centre ■rvitli silver ij-,jrey^ folhiuvd by a Jiarrower blackish band ; 



' Handbk, Bds. Austr , Vol. U , p. 135 (1S65). 



