I 82 The Nutmeg {Torres Strait) Pigeon. [ 7 thjan. 



closely followed by Calornis metallica, Tanysiptera sylvia, and many 

 others, and arrives here early in August, some showing up by the middle 

 of luly, as yesterday I noticed a few small " flocks " coming across from 

 New Guinea, and most probably were it not for the moulting season many 

 would arrive even earlier. These first arrivals, as a rule, do not remain 

 with us, but continue their flight further south, where they settle on some 

 of the numerous mangrove-covered islands and islets ; the small, low, and 

 densely covered by mangrove ones appear to be their favourite nesting 

 habitat, as on them they are completely secure from all enemies. As the 

 tide covers the surface of the islands, they are safe from the attacks of 

 native cats, snakes, rats, and other vermin from underneath, and the 

 tops of the mangroves, seen from a distance, owing to the prevalence of 

 the strong south-east trades, have the appearance of being clipped level, 

 and are so stiff and interlaced that a man can scramble along them oxer- 

 head, but unable to get through to the ground, consequently the young 

 and eggs are closely protected from skywards from Hawks and other 

 birds of prey. 



As the distance from here to New Guinea is short (ioo miles) and the 

 intervening sea being dotted with islands within sight from each other, 

 which can be used as resting places, the flight is not at all exhausting, so 

 that the birds land here strong and in good condition, and commence 

 nesting operations straight away, the clutch consisting of one egg only, 

 which probably accounts for the fact of their laying so often, the earlier 

 arrivals bringing up perhaps four broods during their eight months sojourn 

 with us. During the term of incubation the male birds carry food for 

 the sitters in their crops from the mainland, which can be ejected fresh 

 and intact at will, the parents afterwards supplying food to their young 

 in the same manner, and by the beginning of September many of them 

 are strong enough to fly and forage for themselves, and they in their turn 

 lay two or three times before leaving Australia about end of March with 

 the south-east trades, and on any date between the middle of August and 

 March eggs can be collected. 



Many of the islands on the coast are fairly high-wooded, such as Cairncross, 

 Turtle, Deliverance, and others, having only a fringe of mangroves round 

 them, the interior being timbered with fig trees, terminalia, and several 

 other edible (for birds) fruit and berry-bearing trees. Deliverance Island, 

 which is low and flat and of considerable extent, is almost a forest solely 

 of terminalia, and nearly the whole series of islands to the eastward of Cape 

 York arc fruit-bearing. In the early sixties they were all densely covered 

 with terminalia trees, which were ruthlessly cut down by the beche-de-mer 

 fishermen for smoke-house purposes, Warrior and Half-way Islands being 

 completely denuded, but the trees are now springing up again. However, 

 I do not think that on any of the islands (Deliverance may, perhaps, be 

 an exception) there is sufficient food to supply throughout the season all 

 the birds that frequent them, so that it must be supplemented from the 

 mainland, to which the birds commence their flight from early in the 

 morning until about 8 o'clock, when there remain only those sitting on 

 nests and young birds, fledged, but not yet sufficiently strong to undertake 

 the journey. The return flight in the evening commences about two 

 hours before sunset, and lasts until dark, during which two and a half 

 hours the Pigeons fly in an unbroken, continuous stream, thousands upon 

 thousands of them, and immediately after daylight and at dusk the sound 

 made by their cooing is one deep, unbroken, monotonous boom, which 

 when approaching an island may be heard from some distance. 



On the mainland, in our large areas of rich evergreen scrubs, there 



