248 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



dertrum a little more developed but even less deflexed, the membranous nasal 

 operculum more swollen, the under mandible with the gonys longer but scarcely 

 angulated, the interramal space half -feathered, the anterior portion tending to 

 fusion showing depression only, the rami grooved as far as the gonys. The wing 

 long with the attenuated first primary a little shorter than the fifth, and both much 

 shorter than the second, third and fourth, which are longest and subequal ; scallop- 

 ing as in the two preceding forms and secondaries short. The tail is very long, 

 longer even than the wing, strongly graduated, the feathers long and rather thin, 

 the outside feathers much less than half the central ones, the four middle ones about 

 equal, fourteen feathers in all forming the tail. The tarsus is short, about equal to 

 the culmen and middle toe, and stout, the front of the tarsus with strong horizontal 

 scutes, the sides and hind portion with skin only showing no scale formation, the 

 middle toe long and thin, the mid -claw elongated, the inner and outer toes subequal, 

 the hind -toe long and straight, the claw normal ; very little skin seen on sides of 

 hind-toe which is shorter than inner toe. 



Coloration : blue -grey head and breast, abdomen pinkish, tail with outer feathers 

 half-way white, upper-surface pale brown without any bars but white spots on wing- 

 coverts, inner secondaries and scapulars ; immature barred above and below. 



168. Stictopeleia cuneata. SPOTTED-SHOULDERED DOVE. 



Gould, Vol. V., pi. 74 (pt. xvii.), March 1st, 1845. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 2, pi. 33, Jan. 31st, 

 1911. 



Columba cuneata Latham, Index Ornith. Suppl., p. LXI., 1801, after May: Sydney, New 



South Wales. 



Columha macquarie Quoy et Gaimard, Voy. de 1'Uranie et Physic., Zool., p. 122, pi. 31, Aug. 



28th, 1824 : New South Wales. 



Columba spiloptera Vigors, Zool. Journ,, Vol. V., p. 275, June 1830 : New South Wales. 



Geopelia cuneata mungi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 187, Jan. 31st, 1912 : Mungi, 



North-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION Australia generally. Not Tasmania. 



Adult male. General colour above including the entire back and wings, pale 

 brown, with small rounded spots of white on the wing-coverts and scapu 

 bastard-wing brown ; primary -co verts, and quills brown on the outer webs and tips, 

 inner webs chestnut ; secondaries grey, without any chestnut ; middle tail-feathers 

 grey, becoming blackish towards the tips and showing obsolete dark cross-bars for 

 the entire length, the next pair blackish ; the four outer pairs black at base, with 

 long white tips ; fore-head and crown pale blue-grey like the chin and throat, 

 becoming darker on the breast and under wing-coverts ; axillaries and sides of 

 "body of the same colour, but paler ; abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; quill- 

 lining pale chestnut. Bill black ; iris red ; feet reddish-cream colour. Total length 

 200 mm. ; culmen 15, wing 95, tail 101, tarsus 15. 



Adult female. Differs from the male in having the sides of neck, fore-neck and 

 chest pale brown, somewhat like the hind-neck ; bill brown ; iris light red ; bare 

 skin round the eye also red ; tarsi flesh-white, feet white, 



Immature. Fore-head whitish, top of head fawn with brown tips to feathers, 

 back of head and neck a little greyer with indistinct browner tips, back brown with 

 pale rufous tips, tail-feathers short, central ones brown, outer ones white ; primaries 

 brown with inner webs chestnut, outer one attenuated but more broadly than in 

 adult ; coverts brown with broad whitish tips ; inner secondaries with fawnish 

 tips ; chin pale bluish-white, chest bluish with brown and fawn barring, abdomen 

 and flanks dirty. 



Immature (a little older}. Head more boldly marked, scapulars and wing- 

 coverts with broader fawn tips, the former also barred with fawn, the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts with brown tips, the inner secondaries fawn tipped, the central 



