ol. Ill 



1904 



CARTER, Birds Occurring in the Region of N.W. Cape. I 73 



months when water is scarce. They congregate in great flocks in the 

 scrub surrounding the pools. The eggs are laid in the very fragile nests 

 in low bushes, and were noted from 1st May to 15 th September. 



(99.) PHAPS CHALCOPTERA (Bronze-winged Pigeon). — These birds were 

 decidedly scarce, an odd bird or two only being occasionally seen watering 

 at pools. 



(100.) HlSTRIOPHAPS HISTRIONICA (Flock Pigeon). — An irregular visitor, 

 occurring commonly, in some seasons, usually after a hurricane, when 

 the abundant rain has produced plenty of grass-seeds, though small 

 numbers were noted on the Minilya River in 1887, and also on the coast 

 at Point Cloates in 1890 — a dry season. In 1900, which, as before stated, 

 was the wettest year ever known in this district, odd birds were constantly 

 seen on the inland flats, almost invariably flying at great speed. They 

 must have bred in great numbers, for in January, 1901, countless thousands 

 were watering at a pool on the Lyndon River, as recorded in The Emu, 

 vol. i., p. 126. The immense bush fire which had just before burnt out 

 the whole of the country north and north-east of the Lyndon River, for 

 a space of about one hundred miles square, was evidently the cause of 

 this great congregation of these birds, as the fire here reached its southern 

 limit, and they were feeding on the edge of the unburnt plain. 



(101.) LoPHOPHAPS FERRUGINEA (Red-plumed Pigeon). — These charming, 

 sprightly birds were to be found wherever rocky ground occurred in the 

 vicinity of water. They were seen in such situations on the Gascoyne 

 River at Rocky Pool, at several places on the Minilya and Lyons Rivers, 

 at the Yardie Creek, and Nor'-West Cape. If one took up a situation 

 near a pool where they came to drink, they would run close round in a 

 most confiding way, uttering their " coo," with crest erect. The two eggs 

 are laid on the ground in very exposed situations, the nesting material 

 being very slight. Eggs were taken on 18th May, 12th September, and 

 25th October, so that the laying season apparently depends on the rainfall, 

 and more than one brood is reared, as eggs were noted in May and October, 

 1900. 



(102.) OCYPHAPS LOPHOTES (Crested Pigeon). — These birds were not. 

 numerous, and are apparently decreasing in numbers, or being driven 

 further inland by stocking the country. They were fairly plentiful on 

 the Gascoyne River in 1887, watering at sheep-troughs. 



(103.) COTURNIX PECTORALIS (Stubble Quail). — Only one specimen of 

 this bird was seen. It was shot close to the homestead at Point Cloates, 

 9th November, 1901. 



(104.) Syncecus australis (Brown Quail). — After heavy rains these 

 birds were fairly common in the thick grass that grows in the beds of 

 watercourses, but disappeared as the vegetation dried off. They occasion- 

 ally bred near the coast. Eggs are usually laid about the middle of 

 September. Young birds, strong on the wing, were shot 4th November. 



(105.) LlPOA OCELLATA (Mallee-Fowl, Gnow). — These birds occurred in 

 1887 in the thick coastal scrub north of the Gascoyne River, where natives 

 used to gather their eggs. These dense scrubs apparently extend between 

 the vast salt-marshes and the sea as far north as Cape Farquhar, which is 

 about 70 miles south of Point Cloates, and being quite unexplored and 

 undisturbed, owing to the absence of water, the birds probably still occur 

 there. Although out of the district at present under consideration, I 

 may mention that in September, 1887, when travelling between the 

 Wooramel and Murchison Rivers (about 90 miles south of the Gascoyne 

 River), great numbers of nests were seen in a thick belt of mallee (about 



