256 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



black ; the feathers of the chin and throat black, with white pear-shaped tips ; 

 bastard-wing and primary-coverts blackish, the latter dusted with white towards 

 the tips ; primary-quills white at the base, becoming darker towards the tips, the 

 inner ones dusted with brown and shaded with rufous ; secondary -quills entirely 

 brown, somewhat darker on the inner webs ; the innermost secondaries like the back ; 

 some dark metallic -purple spots are indicated on one or two of the inner major 

 coverts and long scapular feathers ; tail rufous -brown, the outer feathers inclining 

 to blackish ; abdomen, sides of the body, under tail-coverts, axillaries and under 

 wing-coverts blackish, with pale margins to the feathers ; tail and quills below 

 blackish, the latter with white bases ; bill black ; iris dark brown ; tarsi and feet 

 blackish-brown. Total length about 310 mm. ; culmen 20, wing 135, tail 120, 

 tarsus 20. The sexes are alike. 



Immature. Apparently similar to the adult plumage. 



Nest. A slight hollow about two inches in depth scooped in the ground 

 near a small tuft of spinifex, or stone, and lined with soft dead grass. 



Eggs. Clutch, two ; oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and 

 lustrous, cream colour or creamy-white. Dimensions 27-29 mm. by 21. 



Breeding -season. July to October. 



Distribution and forms. North-west Australia only. Two subspecies have been 

 named : P. a. albipennis Gould from ** Western Australia," described as having 

 " all the upper-surface rufous -brown," and, therefore, Wyndham selected as type 

 locality and Northern Territory birds agree ; the specimens from Napier Broome 

 Bay, North-west Australia, named P. a. alisteri Mathews, lack the rufous coloration, 

 being dark uniform brown above, and differ appreciably. 



174. Petrophassa rufipennis. CHESTNUT-QUILLED ROCK PIGEON. 



Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 3, pi. 39. April. 29th, 1911. 



Petrophassa rufipennis Collett, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1898, p. 354, Oct. 1st : South Alligator 

 River, Northern Territory. 



DISTRIBUTION. Northern Territory. 



Adult male. The feathers of the upper-surface, as well as those of the breast, 

 grey, margined with brown ; throat and a narrow line above and below the eye 

 white ; sides of face also inclining to white ; bastard-wing blackish ; primary- 

 coverts chestnut, blackish at the tips ; primary-quills chestnut, margins of the 

 outer webs towards the ends, and the tips blackish ; secondaries dark brown ; tail 

 blackish, as also the axillaries and lesser under wing-coverts ; quills below, greater, 

 and a few of the lesser, wing-coverts chestnut ; bill black ; iris brown ; feet black. 

 Total length 345 mm. ; culmen 21, wing 151, tail 145, tarsus 22. 



Adult female. Differs from the adult male only in having metallic spots on a 

 few of the scapular feathers. Total length 310 mm. ; culmen 22, wing 152, tail 131, 

 tarsus 22. 



Nest and Eggs. Undescribed. 



Distribution and forms. Restricted to Northern Territory and no subspecies. 



Genus GEOPHAPS. 



Geophaps Gray, Appendix List Gen. Birds, p. 12, March 1st, 1842. Type (by original designa- 

 tion) : Columba scripta Temminck. 



Terraphaps Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 8, p. 195, March 20th, 1913. Type (by 

 original designation) : Columba smithii Jardine and Selby. 



Medium Ground-Doves with stout bills, long wings, long tail and stout legs 

 and feet. The bill is short and stout, the dertrum swollen, the tip deflexed, the 



