^'°ico6^"j Campbell, The Moult of the Blue Wren. ICC 



is the true naturalist's spirit, not in clumsily collecting skins or 

 eggs and laying them by where few can see them, but in inter- 

 preting the birds aud their ways in their own home. 



Birds New for Australia. 



New Fruit-Pigeon. 



Mv friend Mr. E. M. Cornwall, Cairns, North Queensland, 

 writes : — " I am sending you a skin of a very small Pigeon 

 which I cannot identify. I shot it on the 2ist May, 1905, in a 

 big fig-tree while it was feeding with several more like itself, in 

 company with the P^uit-Pigeons Ptilopiis superbits and 

 P. szvaiHsojii" 



The bird, which is a female, is undoubtedly new, for Australia 

 at least. It most resembles the Tiny P'ruit-Pigeon {P. nanus, 

 Temminck), of New Guinea,* but is slightly larger. The new 

 bird may be described as : — General colour, bronze or metallic 

 green, the wing coverts and secondaries being edged with 

 yellow ; primaries, dark grey edged with yellowish white ; tail, 

 bronze-green ; throat, greyish ; the greenish feathers of the 

 under surface slightly tipped with yellow, the abdomen being 

 mottled with a yellowish-white patch ; under tail coverts 

 yellowish-white. Dimensions in inches : — Length, 7.5 ; wing, 

 4.75 ; tail, 2.5 ; bill, .5 ; tarsus, .6. Compare dimensions of P. 

 nanus: — Length, 5.8; wing, 3.5 ; tail, 1.75 ; bill, .4; tarsus, .5. 



It is just possible that on account of its arboreal habit, very 

 small size, and plumage closel}^ assimilating the colour of the 

 foliage which it frequents, this new Pigeon has escaped the notice 

 of other collectors. Doubtless, when the male has been 

 discovered he will be found to possess a distinctive abdominal 

 band, characteristic of this race of diminutive P'ruit-Pigeons, 

 several species of which inhabit the Papuan Region. Until the 

 male be examined, I venture to suggest, as a provisional name, 

 Ptilopus ininutus, or the Small Green Fruit- Pigeon. — A. J. 

 Campbell. 



Wood-Sandpiper {Tringa glareola, Linn). 



The occurrence of this wanderer in Australia establishes an 

 interesting record. Mr. E. G. Austin, of Booriyallock, Skipton, 

 Victoria, shot a specimen on his estate recently.*|' I have 

 examined the bird, which has been skilfully mounted by Mr. A. 

 Coles, taxidermist. It is not surprising that the Wood-Sand- 

 piper has occurred in Australia, seeing that the species has a 

 very extensive range. According to Seebohm, *' it has occurred 

 in the Faroes, and may be regarded as a somewhat irregular 



* " Birds of New Guinea " (Gould-Sharpe), vol. v., \\. 51. 



t End of November, 1905. Tiiere was only on(: bird seen, which was on the edge 

 of some fresh water. 



