32 THE BIBDS OF AXJSTKILIA 



The Plumed Pigeon. 



Lophophaps plumifera. 



Northern and Central Australia. 



General plumage pale cinnamon; forehead and a line on the sides 

 of the erown, grey; bare lores and naked skin round the eyes bounded 

 above and below with a narrow band of black; the lengthened crest- 

 plumes cinnamon; throat and cheeks white, chin black, on chest a band 

 of grey, margined below with a narrower one of black; back of neck 

 and mantle with obsolete brown bars; upper wing-coverts and scapulars 

 rayed with cinnamon at tip of feathers, with brown in the middle part 

 and grey at base; an oblong bronze-purple spot on the outer webs of 

 three of the inner secondaries; central tail feathers brown. Total 

 length 8 inches, wing 4.2, tail 2.6, bill 2.65, tarsus 0.8. 



Nest a slight depression in the ground, usually near some 

 shelter. These are strictly terrestrial birds. The two eggs are 

 of a very light cream colour, and measure .99 x .78 inch. 



The Red-plumed Pigeon. 



Lophophaps ferruginea. 



Interior of South, West, and North-west Australia. 

 Similar to L, plumifera, but no grey band on the chest, and breast 

 and abdomen uniformly cinnamon coloured. 



Nest a slight depression in the ground, usually near some 

 shelter, such as a Spinifex tussock. The two eggs are of a 

 creamy-white colour, and measure 1.01 x .74 inch. 



The White-bellied Plumed Pigeon. 



Lophophaps leucogaster. 



Northern Territory and interior of South Australia. 



Similar to L. plumifera and L. ferruginea, but of a much paler and 

 duller cinnamon colour, and with a distinct whitish band in front of the 

 pectoral grey one; the central part of the lower breast is whitish, and 

 the abdomen buff. 



Nest similar to that of the other two species. The two eggs 

 are also creamy white, and measure 1.04 x .80 inch. 



