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** scends to the ground. I not unfrequently observed it 

 *' close to the open doors of the huts of the stock-keepers 

 ** of the interior, who, from its continually being before 

 " them, regard it with but little interest. The nest is 

 *' a frail but beautiful structure formed of the stalks of 

 *' a few flowering grasses, crossed and interwoven after 

 " the manner of the other Pigeons. It utters a rather 

 "singular note which at times very much resembles 

 "the crowing of a cock. The eggs are white and two 

 "in number, eleven-sixteenths of an inch long, by 

 "seven-sixteenths broad. The sexes, although bear- 

 " ing a general resemblance to each other, may be 

 " readily distinguished by the smaller size ^' of the 

 " female, by the browner hue of her wing feathers, and 

 "by the spotting of their upper surface not being so 

 " numerous or so regular as in the male." (Gould). 

 Their demeanour in the aviary is very similar to 

 the above description ; they are essentially ground 

 birds, scarcely ever using the branches save as a foun- 

 dation for their cleverly woven nest ; when not on the 

 ground the}^ almost invariably use a shelf, ledge, or 

 top of some nesting receptacle as a resting place. 

 Their tameness too is remarkable after they have been 

 in the aviary a few months. I have never had one of 

 this species injure itself by flying against the top of 

 the aviary, and when sitting you have actually to touch 

 the female before she will leave the nest. At the same 

 time it must not be gathered that they are sluggish on 

 the wing, far from it, their flight being extremely 



* In many individuals the difiference in size is infinitesimal and, were 

 it not for the browner hue of the plumage, would be an unreliable guide ; 

 i.e. one which only a trained eye would detect. In nestlings however the 

 sexes can be picked out by their larger or smaller size. W. T. P. 



