2150 



PIGEONS AND SAND GROUSE 



powers of flight enable it to cross a great expanse of country in an 

 Australian incredibly-short space of time, and just before sunset it may be seen 

 r singly, or in pairs, coming swiftly over the plains, or down the gul- 



lies to its drinking places. It feeds almost entirely on the ground, 

 picking up various leguminous seeds; and numbers of old and young are killed in 

 the stubble fields after the breeding season, which lasts from August to December. 

 Another genus {Histriophaps} , characterized by the feeble bill and 

 the tail of fourteen feathers, is represented by one peculiarly-colored 

 species, the harlequin dove (ff. histrionica] , of Northwestern Austra- 

 lia. The forehead, a stripe round the ear coverts, and the gorget are snow white; the 



Harlequin 

 Dove 



CRESTED AND COMMON BRONZE-WINGED DOVES. 

 (One-fourth natural size.) 



remainder of the head, throat, and ear coverts being jet black, while the upper parts 

 of the body and middle tail feathers are cinnamon brown, with a patch of metallic 

 purple on the innermost secondaries; the under parts being bluish gray, and the 

 outer tail feathers blackish, shading into gray at the base, and tipped with white. 

 This species breeds in February, depositing two eggs under any low bush in the 

 middle of the open plains. Towards the beginning of April it collects in large 

 flocks, and lives on the seeds of the rice grass, which the natives collect for food. 

 During the short period harvest lasts the flavor of this dove is delicious, but at other 



