^°qo6 "^'l Berney, Birds of the Richmond District, N.Q. Ay 



small Doves from the ground where they were roosting, but in the dark 

 could not say whether they were this species or the next. Probably this 

 habit is common to both. 



Little Dove {Geopelia cuneatci). — This lovely little Dove is as common 

 as the last, and frequents the same localities. August and September appear 

 to be its nesting months. 



Bronze-wing Pigeon {Phaps cJialcoptera). — This bird is seldom to be 

 seen about Richmond, but in seasons of drought occasional birds are driven 

 to the river by want of water. At Spring Valley, on the edge of the basalt, 

 they are fairly plentiful in the open scrubs. Their handsome plumage so 

 well assimilates with the ground and the foliage that they frequent that the 

 first intimation you get of their presence is generally the rattle of their wings 

 as they dart away through the timber. Owing to the habit these birds have 

 of coming in to water in the dusk, many lose their lives where there are wire 

 fences about ; I know of one particular half-mile of fence that crosses a 

 bore stream winding through open-timbered country, which is a very fatal 

 spot ; in such a light wires are indistinguishable. With the Hawks and the 

 bush cats I have often shared the spoil in the morning ; whoever got 

 there first took the Pigeons, which were often decapitated by the force of 

 the impact — head and body lying lo feet apart. They are worth picking up, 

 for they go over three-quarters of a pound. Measurements of an adult 

 male : — Total length, i4Ta inches ; wing, 7 3/^ inches ; tail, 5^ inches ; 

 tarsus, \y% inches ; bill, ItV inches. 



Flock-Pigeon {Histriophaps histrio}tica). — T\\e presence of Flock- 

 Pigeons here depends largely on the season ; some years they are almost 

 entire absentees, other years we have large numbers of them. This year 

 they are plentiful, and have been nesting freely in the months from 

 April to July — I saw most nests in May and June ; in previous years I have 

 known eggs in February and September. They are excellent shooting if 

 waited for at their watering places, which they visit morning and evening, 

 and, when obtained, are wonderfully fleshy birds, adult males going up to 

 12 ounces, while a mixed bag of fifty or sixty averaged over 9 ounces. 



What a wonderful protection to this bird is its colour. The whole of the 

 upper surface, bar the crown of the head in the male, being cinnamon- 

 brown, it must harmonise well with the brown soil upon which it spends its 

 life. To conceal the black and white extremity of the tail the exceptionally 

 lengthened upper tail coverts seem completely adapted. They need all the 

 protection they get, for where they roam there are such avian pirates as 

 Falco S7ibuigcr and F. li'Jiulatiis^ from which the best chance of escape is to 

 crouch motionless. Once on the wing there is no sanctuary for the Flock- 

 Pigeon ; it must trust to its own strong wings. The squab in the nest is 

 covered with cinnamon-brown down. Measurements of two adult males 

 and average measurements of five adult females : — 



Total length. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male ... 11% inches ... 8X i"ches ... 3^ inches ... ij\- inches ... %-inch 



Male ... 1 1 11 inches ... 8^^ inches ... 3^^ inches ... I r\ inches ... -^l-inch 



Female... 11 3^ inches ... 8 inches ... 3^^ inches .. i\?^ inches ... -]f-inch 



Crested Pigeon {Ocyphaps lophotes). — This is a common resident, 

 nesting practically all the year round. During the past eight years I have 

 made records of 33 nests containing eggs or young ; they are distributed 

 as follows : — 



Jan., 5 I March, nil I May, 4 I July, 4 I Sept., 6 I Nov., 2 

 Feb., I I April, i | June, 4 | Aug., nil \ Oct., 5 | Dec, i . 



Although generally found in small mobs of 10 or a dozen, I have seen as 

 many as 200 or 300 in a flock. 



