PIGEONS. 



245 



The genus Le^icosarcia, also eonfined to Aiistr;ilia, eontains but one species, a large 

 haudsoniL" binl known as X. p'cata, remarkable for the delieaey of its flesh. It 

 inhabits the brush which stretches along the line of coast of New South Wales, or 

 that covering the hillsides of the interior. It jiasses its time on the ground, rising 

 with the sudden burst and noise of a (ialllnaceous bird, but does not remain long upon 

 the wing. It has a very pleasing plumage of slate-gray and white. The tail has 

 fourteen feathers. 



J/eiiicoji/uips, with its single species, JSl albifrons, is a genus restricted to the 

 Papuan Islands, but of a more extended distribution than some which are found in 

 that archipelago. It is a rather dull-looking bird, with a strong plover-like bill ; the 





.six-/./: * 





, . . V\."iNV.t,"\vi__;;' 



Km. Il«. — Ocyjihapt tophotei, cresteil-jiigeon, and Phaps cltalcoplera, broiizti-wiug pigeon. 



plumage fuscous rufous black, tinged with glossy green, the wing-coverts glossed 

 with a golden-copjier hue, forehead white. Very little is known of the bird. It was 

 first procured by Wallace in Waigu, where it feeds from low trees and shrubs, but 

 does not appear to be altogether terrestrial. 



Chalcoplitips is a genus of brush pigeons, containing about a dozen species, which 

 feed upon the ground on seeds and berries. It is jiretty widely disjiersed, the sijiccics 

 being natives of India, Ceylon, Java, Borneo, Australia, Pajiuan and riiilipiiinc Islands, 

 and Formosa. They have a rich, glossy, mostly green i)lumage, and a very swift flight. 

 The best-known species is probably the C. indica, found all over India where forests 

 exist, and all countries to the east of the Bay of Bengal, also throughout the islands 



