All rtshis reset ved,] [DECEMBER, 1906. 



BIRD NOTES: 



THE JOURNAL OF 



THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



ICbe 2)iamont) Bove. 



[Geopelia cnneaia). 

 By WKSr.KY T. Page, F.Z.S. 

 Trivial names : — Speckled Ground, Graceful Ground 

 and Red-e3^ed Dove, and also that of Diamond Dove, 

 which is now almost exclusivel}'' used. 



Most Doves are rather dull, some even stupid, but 

 this cannot be said of G. acneata ; however, apart 

 from their dulness, doves make an agreeable variety in 

 an aviary, feed largely on the seeds other birds scatter 

 about, and never interfere with their smallest fellow 

 captives, reserving their very pronounced animosity 

 for their near relatives. As regards beauty, both as to 

 contour and plumage they are unsurpassed by any 

 other order of birds. The exquisite harmony, the 

 chaste and soft colouring, so beautifully blended as to 

 be simply beyond description, must be seen to be 

 appreciated ; and of the many species that have been 

 imported, the present diminutive one is certainly one 

 of the most beautiful. 



Habitat : This is pretty generally distributed over 

 the whole of Australia, and the bird is very common 

 on the Murray and Darling. 



Plumage : This can only be indicated ; it certainly 

 cannot be adequately described. Adult male : — Head, 

 neck and breast, French grey, or perhaps transparent 



