THE PIGEONS 



21 



The Plain Wanderer. 



Pedionomus torquatus. 



Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. 



Female: General colour above brown, finely barred with black; a 

 black and white collar surrounds the neck; upper parts of chest rust- 

 colour; chin and centre of throat white, sides of face and throat whitish, 

 spotted with black; underparts whitish buff. Total length 6.3 inches, 

 wing 4, tail 1.6, tarsus 1. 



Male has no rust colour in nape; the collar is buff and brownish, and 

 the upper chest tinted with bright buff. Total length 5.8 inches, wing 

 3.4, tail 1.2, tarsus 0.9. 



Nest generally on open plains, and as a rule with 

 little shelter, practically with no nest. The four eggs, much 

 smaller at one end than at the other, greenish-white, thickly 

 spotted with olive and purplish-grey markings. Slightly 

 granulated, 1.3 x .96 inch. 



Order Columbiformes. Pigeons and Doves. 



Eostrum swollen at the hard and convex tip, the basal 

 portion covered by a soft skin, in which are the openings of the 

 nostrils, overhung by a valve. Feet with four toes on the same 

 level. Tarsi covered on the sides and behind with hexagonal 

 scales. Feathers without aftershaft. 



The Pigeons build a very simple nest mostly of twigs and 

 placed in a tree or on the ground. The eggs are one or two, and 

 always white. The young nestlings are naked and helpless. 



Family Treronidce. 

 Tarsus shorter than the middle toe, feathered for more than 

 half its length. Soles very broad, each toe with the skin 

 expanded on the sides. Tail with fourteen feathers. 



Tree-Pigeons. 



Genus Ptilopus. — Bill thin and short. Size small, not larger 

 than the domestic pigeon. Plumage mostly green, but much 

 variegated with patches of bright colours. 



Genus Myristicivora. — Bill thin and long, distensible at the 

 base. Size large, not less than the domestic pigeon. General 

 plumage white or light. 



Genus Lopholcemiis. — Head crested. 



