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adult; the white wing spots are entirely lacking, but 

 practically each individual wing feather has a huffish 

 bar across the end, the extreme tip being blackish. 

 At two months the adult plumage commences to show 

 itself, and at three and half months there is little 

 difference between them and their parents. 



Wild Life : I will only here quote two short ex- 

 tracts from the writings of Sturt and Gould. 



" All that we read or imagine of the innocence of 

 *' the Dove is realised in this beautiful and delicate 

 " little bird. It is very small, and has a general purple 

 ** plumage approaching to lilac. It has a bright red' 

 *' skin round the eyes, the iris being also red, and 

 " its wings are speckled over with delicate white spots. 

 '* This sweet bird is common on the Murray and 

 " Darling, and was met with in various parts of the 

 •' interior, but I do not think it migrates to the North- 

 ** West. Two remained with us at the Depot, in lat. 

 "39° 40', long. 140°, during a greater part of the 

 " winter, and on one occasion roosted on my tent ropes 

 " near a fire. The note of this Dove is exceedingly 

 " plaintive, and is softer, but much resembles the coo 

 •*of the Turtle Dove." (Sturt). 



" Its natural food being the seeds of grasses and 

 '' leguminous plants, it is observed more frequently on 

 "the ground than among trees. I sometimes met 

 " with it in small flocks, but more often in pairs or 

 " singly. It runs over the ground with a short bob- 

 " bing motion of the tail, and while feeding is so 

 " remarkably tame as almost to admit of its being 

 " taken up by the hand ; and if forced to take wing, it 

 "merely flies to the nearest trees, and there remains 

 ' motionless among the branches until it again de- 



