THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 139 



eaten fruit is dropped or knocked off, and falls to the ground in 

 considerable quantities. The fruits, measuring as they do an 

 inch or more in diameter, cause quite a stir as they speed 

 through the leaves on their downward course, and fall with a 

 sharp smack on the leaf-covered ground. After the report of the 

 gun has died away, all is silence for awhile save for an occasional 

 Regent- or Cat-bird that will dart away into the undergrowth ; 

 then presently a large Fruit Pigeon will commence again to flop 

 about among the foliage, and soon the whole congregation are as 

 busy as before with their meal. 



The fruit of the Native Tamarind, on which the birds become 

 very fat, ripens in the early spring and summer months. The 

 large Topknot Pigeon, Lopholcemws antarcticus, particularly comes 

 in numbers to feast upon the fruit. This bird, the largest of the 

 pigeons, is, however, quite a bird of the air, for in flocks of from six 

 to twelve or fifteen it is seen ever on the move, and rarely appears 

 to settle except at feeding time. The two other large fruit-eating 

 pigeons are the Purple-breasted, Megaloprepia magnificat,, and 

 the Bald-headed, Columba leucomela, but they never leave the 

 precincts of the scrub, and may be considered of all pigeons the 

 most shy and difficult to obtain. The Bald-headed species takes 

 its name from having a white head and neck, the under parts also 

 being white, but the back and wings are black, with a metallic 

 sheen. This bird is the more often seen in parties of six or 

 eight, and is continually moving its quarters, but the Purple- 

 breasted is a strictly local species, and never more than a pair of 

 old birds is seen together. They live and breed about the one 

 spot, and, once you know the place, with a little patience the 

 birds can generally be found. The first idea you get of their 

 proximity is a guttural " quok " up in the tree tops, but the bird 

 remains immovable on its perch, and it is next to impossible to 

 find it, but, if feeding, then you may discern it creeping out along 

 the branches to reach its food ; when all within reach has been 

 devoured it will flop clumsily into the next clump of foliage, and 

 this act usually betrays its whereabouts. If a front view of the 

 bird be obtained the rich plum-coloured breast stands out 

 prominently, but otherwise the green of the back and wings 

 and the yellow of the abdomen assimilate with the colour of the 

 surrounding foliage. The various calls of the Fruit-Pigeons, and, 

 in fact, of all the birds in the scrub, are quite a study in them- 

 selves, and are somewhat difficult to set down on paper; but the 

 call of the M. magnified, is very remarkable, and may be described 

 by the words " wallock-a-woo," uttered in a deep voice. At the 

 first syllable the bird seems to swallow the sound, thus making a 

 peculiar guttural noise. The only call uttered by the G. leucomela 

 is a deep " booh." These two pigeons, as well as the Topknot, 

 being very large, are also fine eating, and weigh quite 20 ounces 



