246 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
and under tail-coverts white, more or less tinged with pink, especially on the breast ; 
under wing-coverts cinnamon-rufous, including the quill-lining, the latter tipped 
with brown. Bill dull blue, iris pale yellow, bare skin round the eyes dull purple ; 
tarsus pinkish-red, feet darker. Total length 300 mm.; culmen 22, wing 142, 
tail 132, tarsus 23 
Adult female—Similar to the adult male with respect to the plumage, but 
smaller. Total length 295 mm.; culmen 18, wing 131, tail 122, tarsus 21. 
Immature female-—Difiers from the adult female in being much more barred 
on the upper-surface ; crown of head almost entirely covered with narrow barrings ; 
the median and greater coverts tipped with white, forming a more or less double 
wing-bar ; innermost secondaries narrowly tipped with white; the blue-grey feathers 
of the chest more or less tinged with pink. 
Nest—A loose, light structure or platform, three to four inches in diameter, 
composed of twigs, portions of climbing plants, and sometimes grass. Usually 
situated in a low tree or thick bush in scrub. 
Eggs.—Clutch, two; pure white, smooth and glossy; axis 26-28 mm., 
diameter 21. 
Breeding-season.—August to March. 
Distribution and forms.—Restricted to Australia and only in the northern 
portion, but closely allied species in the islands north of Australia. Four subspecies 
are distinguishable : C. h. humeralis (Temminck) from Queensland and New South 
Wales ; C. h. inexpectata (Mathews) from North-west Australia, smaller and paler ; 
C. h. apsleyi (Mathews) from Melville Island, differing in its darker upper-surface, 
paler fore-head and shorter bill; and C. h. headlandi (Mathews) from mid-West 
Australia, paler even than C. h. inexpectata and smaller, being thus the palest and 
smallest form. 
Genus GEOPELIA. 
Geopelia Swainson, Classif. Birds, Vol. II., p. 348, July Ist, 1837. Type (by monotypy) : 
Columba lineata Sparrman. 
Tomopeleia Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel, p. xxv., 1852 (? 1853). Type (by monotypy) : 
Columba maugeus Temminck. 
Small Doves with weak bills, long wings, long wedge tail and small legs and feet. 
The bill is formed as in the preceding genus but is shorter and weaker and is shorter 
than the head, is a little more expanded at the base, the dertrum less deflexed, the 
gonys less marked and scarcely ascending, the interramal space a little wider and 
scarcely any signs of a groove on the sides of the rami, while the interramal space 
is not fully feathered. The wing is rounder than in the preceding case, the first 
primary being equal to the fifth, and little shorter than the second, third and fourth 
which are subequal, while the secondaries are comparatively shorter, the scalloping 
and attenuation of the primaries being the same as in the last-named genus. The 
tail is composed of fourteen feathers, a little rounded but broad at the tips, and 
strongly wedge shape but the middle eight feathers almost all the same length, 
the outside pair more than half the length of the central pair. The tarsus is short 
and comparatively stout, the front having a row of large horizontal scutes and 
naked unscaled skin at sides and back ; the toes are slender, the middle toe longest, 
the inner longer than the outer, all the claws short ; the hind-toe very long and 
straight with a long claw equalling the inner toe and claw, and with scarcely any 
lateral skin expansion. 
Coloration brownish, the back feathers, wing-coverts, and scapulars with bold 
black tips, the hind-neck and breast whitish with black bars closely formed ; top 
of head and throat bluish-slate, abdomen pinkish-white, tail brownish, the outer 
feathers with long white tips. 
