BIRDS IN THE CALENDAR 



duty being all the more remarkable from the 

 fact that these pigeons of the Antipodes 

 usually lay but a single egg. Australia, with 

 the neighbouring islands, must be a perfect 

 paradise for pigeons, since about half of the 

 species known to science occur in that region 

 only. The wonga-wonga and bronze-wing 

 and great fruit-pigeons are, like the " bald- 

 pates " of Jamaica, all favourite birds with 

 sportsmen, and some of the birds are far 

 more brightly coloured than ours. It is, 

 however, noticeable that even the gayest 

 Queensland species, with wings shot with 

 every prismatic hue, are dull-looking birds 

 seen from above, and the late Dr. A. R. 

 Wallace regarded this as affording protection 

 against keen -eyed hawks on the forage. 

 His ingenious theory receives support from 

 the well-known fact that in many of the 

 islands, where pigeons are even more plenti- 

 ful, but where also hawks are few, the former 

 wear bright clothes on their back as well. 



The woodpigeon has many names in rural 

 England. That by which it is referred to in 

 the foregoing notes is not, perhaps, the most 

 satisfactory, since, with the possible ex- 



