250 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



X 



The only member of this genus found in Australia is M. phasianella, which has a 

 rich, rusty-brown plumage, with the sides and back of the neck glossed with bronzy-pur- 

 ple ; the lateral tail-feathers crossed near the tip by a broad black band ; the iris, blue, 

 with an outer circle of scarlet ; the feet, pinkish-red. The pheasant-tailed pigeon, as it 

 is called, resorts entirely to the brush from Illawarra to Moreton Bay, where it is 

 common. It spends much of its time on the ground, searching for seeds, usually four 

 or five birds being in company. When on the wing, with its broad, lengthened tail 

 spread to the fullest extent, it appears to the greatest advantage. It is of about the 

 same size as the preceding species. 



Geopetia, our next genus, is composed of about six species, four being natives of 

 Australia, some of which, together with the remaining members of the genus, being 

 found in different Moluccan and Papuan islands. In Australia they inhabit the hills 

 and extensive plains of the interior, passing much of their time upon the ground. 

 They are small birds, with a modest plumage destitute of metallic coloring. The tails 

 are long and graduated, and they have rather lengthened legs, to fit them for their 

 terrestrial life. The G. humeralis is one of the most elegant of these graceful crea- 

 tures, and is extremely abundant at Port Essington, inhabiting swampy grounds and 

 banks of running streams. Its food is seeds of various grasses and berries, and it is 

 very gentle, flitting from one branch to another when disturbed. The head, sides of 

 neck, and breast are delicate gray; back, wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts, 

 brown ; feathers of back of neck rufous banded with black on the ends ; two middle 

 tail-feathers, dark-gray, rest reddish-brown at base, and largely tipped with white. 

 This is the largest species of the genus. G. cuneata, also from Australia, is a beautiful 

 little species, which makes a frail but pretty nest from the stalks of flowering grasses, 

 crossed and woven together. One was composed of a small species of Composite, 

 and placed on the overhanging grasses of Xanthorrhea. This bird is called by the 

 natives men-na-brunJca, from a traditionary idea that it introduced the men-net, a gum 

 which exudes from an Acacia, a favorite article of food of the aborigines. Another 

 species, G. maugei, is found in the Moluccan and Papuan islands ; it differs from the 

 rest in having the entire under parts whitish, barred with black. 



South Africa presents us with a distinct genus, ^dEna, containing a single beauti- 

 ful species, JE. capensis. The forehead, cheeks, chin, throat, and chest are glossy 

 black ; upper parts, ash-color ; secondaries, bluish with a purple spot ; wing-feathers, 

 deep-red, edged with brown ; a white bar extends across the rump, succeeded by a 

 narrow black one ; the tail is long and graduated. These birds are very abundant, 

 and are chiefly terrestrial in their habits. In the Karroos they breed in the mimosa 

 bushes. They generally go in pairs, feed on seeds, and the eggs have a rosy tint from 

 the thinness of the shells. The young at first are mottled. 



Zenaidura is well represented by its familiar species, the Carolina dove of North 

 and Central America, the Z. carolinensis of authors. This bird is distributed through- 

 out the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but does not pass further north 

 on the eastern sea-board than southern New England. In its habits it does not differ 

 from other dove-like species, save that its method of nesting depends somewhat upon 

 circumstances ; it deposits its eggs on the ground in many sections of the country, 

 but in districts where many venomous reptiles abound, the nest is placed on cacti and 

 thorny bushes, which afford such protection, by their numerous spines, that even 

 snakes can hardly climb them. This gentle bird is a gleaner of the fields, doing little 

 or no damage, but picking up such seeds and grain as may be on the ground. It 



