PETROPllAS.SA. 14'.> 



are downy, and they are all slightly duller in colour. Two young birds in the Australian Museum 

 Collection, taken from the nest in September, 1883, on the Lachlan River, New South Wales, 

 are labelled " iris yellow ; le^'s and feet pale flesh colour." Total length 6'75 inches, wing 3'5, 

 tail J. 



The Crested Bronze-wing has no fixed breeding season, although as a rule nests with eggs 

 or young are more common in New South Wales during the early spring and summer months. 

 In |une and July, 1893, this species was breeding freely on Yandembah and the adjoining stations. 

 At Coonamble in October, 1905, fully fledged young birds were obtained. 



Petrophassa albipennis. 



WHITE-(JUILLE1> ROCK-PIGP:ON 



P'/fn/Jiassii. a/bip'unis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1S40, p. 17-'?; iiL, Bds. Austr., fol. V^ol. V., pi. 71 

 (1848); l,L, Handbk. Bds. .\ustr., Vol. II., p. 141 (1805); Salvad., Cat. Hds. I'.rit. Mus., 

 Vol. XX[., p. ."):50 (1893) ; Sharpe, Haiul-l. ISds., Vol. I., p. 85 (1S99) ; North, Rec. Aust.r. 

 Mus., Vol. v., p. 269 (1904). 



Adult male. — ^'('ro/ru of tin- liead (iwl ni'fk yri'yisli-hi-invn, <aclt featlier itianiini'd iri/li saiidi/- 

 brmvn ,■ ii/l fhe u/i/nr .^urfac'- and chest. ritfoHS-hroitui, ihe rriUre of each feallier iiu-J iiiitui In yreij ; 

 lores black ; throat black with the feathers tipped with white ; abdomen and ander tail-coverts chocolafe- 

 broiCH : some of the inner apper iring-coverts, and one of the inner secondaries, hare on the outer wehs 

 a metallic cojiperi/riolii spot, almost concealeil, ..... .' quills dark brown, 



th<' primaries hare the basal half pure irliite ; tail rufons brou-n on the upper surface, chucolate-bron:n 

 um/erneath : bill and iridesdark bnuvn : feet reddishdirou-n. 7'o/.al lem/lh about 10-.'> indies, loin.ij 

 '>-2, tail 'po, bill nt:, tarsus OS."* 



AnrLT FEM.\LK. — Similar tn the male. 



Distribution. — North-western Australia. 



/Tf^HlC White-quilled Rock Pigeon, inhabiting the north-western portion of the continent, 

 .wL is one of the rarest of the .\ustralian Columba'. The only specimens recorded are those 

 sent by one of the officers of H.M.S. " Beagle" to Gould, and others procured by the late Mr. M. 

 Elsey, and by the late Sir (ieorge (jrey in North-western Australia. Count Salvador! described 

 the specimens received from tlie latter sources in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British 

 Museum,"' and from which the above description is transcribed. It is one of the few Australian 

 birds of which I have never seen an e.xample. 



For an opportunity of describing the eggs of this rare species i I was indebted to Mr. Chas. 

 G. Gibson, .Assistant Government Geologist of Western .\ustralia, who took two sets of eggs 

 and forwarded them to me on loan, together with the following interesting notes : — " While in 

 the West Kimberley District, North-western .Vustralia, in 1901, with the Brockman Exploration 

 Expedition, to which party I was attached as Assistant Geologist, we noticed numbers of 

 Pttrophdssii albipennis. They were invariably restricted to the sandstone region, and although 

 fairly numerous, were never anywhere abundant. As a rule they were rather shy birds, 

 and hard to flush, relying on their protective colour to hide them. When flushed they would 

 rise with a loud whirr, fly a short distance, alighting usually on bare rocks, over which they 

 would run rapidly for a few yards, hnally crouching down on a rock harmonising with their 



* Salvadori, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXI., p. 530 (1893}. t Rec. Auslr. Mus,, Vol. V., p. 269 (1904). 



38 



