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. Differs 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, Claasif. Birds, Vol. II., p. 348, July 1st, 1837. Type (by monotypy) : 

 Columba lineata Span-man. 



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 mterramal 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 unsealed 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. 



