Vol. XVII 



1917 



] Macgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland. 81 



scrub. They feed upon wild fruits, and keep to the scrub, where they 

 usually nest on some thin, horizontal fork, at no great height from 

 the ground. 



Myristicivora spilorrhoa (M. bicolor spilorvhoa). — Mr. M'Lennan's 

 earliest note of the arrival of these migratory birds was on the 9th 

 August, when, on the Pascoe River, he noted seeing " a single Torres 

 Strait Pigeon fly into the scrub." On the 29th August, when visiting 

 Lloyd Island, he noted that " a fair number were coming over to 

 roost." On the 30th he noted — " About 100 Torres Strait Pigeons 

 came over"; then on the 31st he noted — "More Torres Strait 

 Pigeons appear to be coming every day." On the 24th September 

 he noted — " Great numbers of Torres Strait Pigeons are coming over 

 to the island to roost." Again, on the 14th October, he noted — " Great 

 numbers of Torres Strait Pigeons are now coming over." 



On the 5th November, the morning after our arrival at the island, 

 we were witnesses to the prodigious numbers that left their roosting- 

 place on the island for the mainland. After the Lorikeets and 

 Starlings had mostly left, the Pigeons began to fly off, first singly, 

 then in pairs or small lots, at intervals, from different parts of the 

 mangroves. These lots became larger and more and more frequent 

 until a continuous stream of birds was passing over from every part 

 of the mangrove belt. The cooing, starting from single birds at 

 dawn, had gradually increased until it became a loud and continuous 

 murmur. We walked along after this between the mangroves and 

 the steep side of the island, and saw numbers still in the trees, where 

 many were beginning to construct or had already made nests in the 

 higher mangroves. 



When at our camp on the Claudie we had frequently to take toll 

 of these birds in order to replenish our pot. They were in the habit 

 of feeding in the scrub just below our camp. They are easily traced 

 to their food trees by hearing their deep " Hoo-hooing." These 

 trees are tall forest trees whose tops are often hidden in the canopy 

 of the scrub. They bear plum-like fruits, some blue, others red, and 

 others, again, white ; some are bitter, others have a pleasant sub-acid 

 taste. The Pigeons swallow them whole, and make no difficulty 

 over it even when one measures i-^ x f inches. The presence of the 

 birds in a tree is also indicated by the constant dropping of fruit 

 dislodged by them, but even then it is a difficult matter to detect 

 them, as their black-and-white plumage blends so well with the light 

 and shade amongst the leaves. 



When at Lloyd's Island again on nth January, we went along 

 the mangrove sea-front in two boats, and entered at different points. 

 Several Pigeons were flushed from their nests, which were not so 

 numerous as we expected. A recent storm blew down many of the 

 trees, leaving large gaps in places, so that only the well-sheltered 

 nests survived. Many nests were empty, some contained addled 

 eggs, others squabs, and a few recent ones fresh eggs. The addled 

 eggs are due to the parents being shot for the pot by the blacks 

 employed on the island, who find it much easier to shoot sitting 

 birds than those flying. Some of the nests are mere skeleton plat- 

 forms of sticks, through which the egg may easily be seen ; others 

 are quite compact structures of leaves and twigs. 



By the end of January the Pigeons coming over were not nearly so 

 numerous, and we saw many flocks flying northward. 



