Some AAistralian Birds Eggs and Nests. 23 



secure the egg, others again from eight to ten feet from the 

 ground in small trees. The nest measures three inches in 

 diameter, and is composed of very few twigs. The %^g is oval in 

 form, and the one I got on the date before mentioned measures 

 22 Ui . , 



Allied Fruit Pigeon (Carpophaga assiinilis.) 



These large pigeons were far more often heard than seen in the 



leafy tops of the dense scrub as they fed on the fruit, and 



fi'equently on passing underneath the high fruit-bearing trees, 



we heard the fruit dropping on the ground, showing the pigeons 



were busy overhead feeding, and we had to look a long time 



before we could make them out, their green colour making them 



more difficult to detect. Their nests, which wei'e four inches in 



diameter, and built of small twigs, were found on several 



occasions, generally on a thin branch of a small tree some ten to 



fifteen feet from the ground, and frequently in trees overhanging 



streams ; only one ^(^■g was found in each nest. The three I have 



were taken on 23rd and 27th October, and 3rd November, and 



,24 17 . , „ 26 17 . , ^251 17 . , 

 measure A —, Y. ■-- inch B --, Y, - inch C --^ X — mch. 

 lb lb lb lo lb lb 



Swing's Fruit Pigeon (Ptiliiiopus eivingii). 



This beautiful little pigeon was seen in the scrub on the 

 higher land near Bloom lield, but specimens were difficult to 

 secure in the thick vegetation. We were fortunate in finding two of 

 their nests on 24th October, one on the banks of the Annan River, 

 in a small tree about eight feet from the ground, it contained a 

 young bird newly hatched, and the hen bird let us approach 

 within three feet of her nest before she flew off. The other 

 nest was placed in a somewhat similar situation, and contained 

 one fresh egg. They were unusually lightly built, with a few 

 small sticks, and two and a half inches in diameter, and it looked 

 as if the egg could hardly I'emain on when the bii'd was oflT 

 the nest, the egg which is oval in form, and white, measures 

 20 Vi\ . , 

 16 ^ Tb '^'^'- 



This egg has not been described before. 



