156 



Plumed Bronze-win^s, and I now feel confident that the specimens 

 from which Count Salvadori took his description of L. plumifera 

 are only slightly paler-coloured examples of Gould's L. ferruginea, 

 and not his true L. plumifera. This is supported by the fact 

 that the talented author in describing L. ferruginea, and of which 

 he had (xould's type before him, states that it is " Similar to L. 

 plumifera, but the general cinnamon colour of a deeper hue." 

 Moreover, there is now a sufficient number of specimens of 

 Plumed Bronze-wings in the Museum, I believe, to satisfactorily 

 answer the question asked by Gould in his Supplement to the 

 Birds of Australia : " Are there two or three species of these 

 charming little crested Pigeons 1 " 



The last to be described, L. ferruginea, is a good and distinct 

 species, which may be easily distinguished from L. plumifera by 

 the absence of the white band on the chest, and its uniform 

 cinnamon-coloured breast and aVjdomen. The habitat of this 

 species appears to be restricted to that portion of West Australia 

 lying between Champion Bay and King Sound. The late Mr. 

 T. H. Bowyer-Bower obtained samples of it near Derby, North- 

 West Australia, and it is from some of his specimens Count 

 Salvadori has taken his description of L. plumifera. Gould's 

 figure of L. ferruginea, although slightly high-coloured, otherwise 

 accurately represents the distinguishing characters of this species. 

 His original description of L. 'plumifera in the Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society is apparently taken from a young bird, for the 

 middle of the abdomen is there described as being light-bulf. In 

 describing the same species in his Handbook, he states the 

 abdom3n is snow-white, which clearly applies to the bird he dis- 

 tinguished later on in his Supplement to the Birds of Australia, 

 under the name of G. leucogaster. It was with hesitation that 

 Gould separated the birds from South Aufitralia under the latter 

 name, and one of his principal reasons for so doing was that they 

 were obtained in a locality far removed from the then known 

 habitat of L. 'plumifera. In his Handbook, Gould remarks : 

 " From Gilbert's Journal I extract the following passage : — ' Lat., 

 17° 30'. March 6. I was fortunate enough to kill for the first 

 time Lophophaps plumifera.'' I only saw the specimen I killed." 

 In the "Old Collection" of the Australian Museum is a specimen 

 of L. plumifera, which Dr. Ramsay ^nforms me was presented to 

 Mr. John Murphy, one of the members of Dr. Leichhardt's Over- 

 land Expedition, and who obtained it during the journey from 

 Moreton Bay to Port Essington. Mr. Murphy, then a lad of 16, 

 was with Gilbert at the time he treacherously met his death at 

 the hands of the natives, and presumedly this is the historic 

 specimen referred to by Gilbert in his journal, for there is no 

 record in Dr. Leichhardt's work of any others being obtained, 



