Australian and New Guinea Birds



181



the door he popped out again by the way he had entered. I next tried

putting the wire trap feeding-tray on the top of the cage, and before

very long he was safely secured and reunited to his family. I noticed

two things in connexion with the brood ; one was that the young cocks

were already distinguishable by their blue secondaries, although their

rumps were still green, 1 and their body plumage was more like that of

the female. The other point was that the old hen fed them quite

as much as the cock, although they had been on the wing some time.

A hen Lovebird hardly feeds her offspring at all once they have flown,

speedily tiring of them, and leaving them to the care of their more

patient and affectionate father.



AUSTRALIAN AND NEW GUINEA BIRDS:


A FINE COLLECTION


The collection of Australian and New Guinea mammals and birds

sent over by the Australian Zoological Control Board reached London

on 14th November in charge of Mr. A. S. Le Souef, the Director of the

Taronga Zoological Park, Sydney. It was a wonderful collection so

far as the mammals were concerned, containing a fine lot of Kangaroos

of several species, Wombats, Bandicoots, and Phalangers.


There were also some very nice birds consisting of two species of

Birds of Paradise, the Six-plumed (Parotia lawesi ) and the Magnificent

(Diphyllodes Jiunsteini), both species hailing from South-East New

Guinea.


Of Pigeons and Doves there were several species, the most interesting

being the White-fronted Bronzewing (Henicophaps albifrons) of New

Guinea, a species never before imported alive, so far as I am aware.

It is of a slaty grey colour with bronze reflections on the wings, a white

forehead, and an extremely long bill for a pigeon. Another very

interesting as well as a very beautiful bird is the Magnificent Fruit

Pigeon (Megaloprepia magnifica), of which there were some half-dozen

examples. It is leaf-green above with a grey head and purple breast.

The typical race occurs in Queensland and New South Wales. These


1 Since writing this paragraph I noticed that at any rate one of the nestling

cocks had quite a lot of blue on the rump.



