THE PLUMED GROUND DOVE. 75 
postures; he did them with much solemnity, as if 
it were the most important thing in the world; but 
the hen, I suppose, was used to it, and took it all 
very quietly. I never reared any young ones, 
though my hen laid several eggs. I found them 
very gentle little birds, and very attractive 
additions to my collection of doves and pigeons; 
everyone who saw them admired them. 
But to return to Mr. Newman’s birds. His old 
pair were very tame, but the young ones were 
much wilder. I have often found this the case 
with doves, and one nervous voung one will put 
an whole aviary in a flutter; so it is wise to remove 
the young from nesting birds as soon as they are 
well grown and there is no doubt about their being 
able to do for themselves. In April Mr. Newman’s 
birds started nesting, but this first attempt was a 
failure; in May, however, the birds tried again, 
and one young one was reared. This bird would 
sit by the old bird beside the nest whilst a third 
pair of eggs were being hatched, and, unlike most 
doves, the affection of the parents did not cease as 
the first young bird grew older, for it was fed 
(with the younger bird) by them until it was 
between nine and ten weeks old and almost their 
own size. 
-\ curious fact about the young birds is that 
they begin to moult before the first plumage is 
complete, so that by the time the young one is full 
grown it is in adult feather. The young birds, 
when first they leave the nest, run about very 
actively; they utter a sort of chirping whistle and 
nestle under the parent birds. When about 13 
days old the white face markings begin to appear. 
The incubation of the eggs lasts 17 days, and the 
young bird first leaves the nest at about nine days 
old. The Partridge Bronze-wing is the most 
amiable of pigeons, and Mr. Newman's six birds 
used all to roost together in a group. 
When one considers how this sweet little pigeon 
is prized in our English aviaries, it is sad to think 
of the little value put upon it in its own land. We 
are told how in quite recent years 4oo of these 
ground doves were caught and offered to the 
Sydney dealers, who declined them; but finally a 
party of pigeon shooters bought the lot, and they 
were all used in shooting matches. 
Poor little birds! They were said to be ‘‘very 
numerous’’ in the neighbourhood then, three years 
ago; we wonder if they are so now! 
The Partridge Bronze-wing was bred in the 
Melbourne Zoo in 1894. 
I do not know the value of these doves a pair, 
for my own birds were given to me; but they are 
rarer than the ordinary Bronze-wing. My birds 
Jaid several lots of eggs in a large box lined with 
earth and sods that I placed for them in the aviary. 
They sat very well, and onc could not help noting 
how like the sitting bird was to the colour of the 
earth, and how in their wild state it must be very 
difficult to discover their nests. .\ hen Red Moun- 
tain dove who had taken a fancy to the Partridge 
doves used to sit in the box with them, though not, 
of course, on the eggs. I never had any young 
birds, perhaps because my little hen was delicate ; 
and eventually I lost both her and the cock. 
In some way the hen had unfortunately sprained 
her leg, and though she was able to get about, I 
do not think she ever quite recovered. 
The cock bird had two different kinds of coos, 
but with one he made no display. I never exposed 
my birds to much cold, so do not feel sure if it 
would try them or not, but they look much more 
fragile than the other Bronze-wings, and it seems 
dangerous to expose partly ground birds to our 
cold and wet winters. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
CRESTED DOVE AND PIGEON. 
The Plumed Ground Dove. 
», Australian Crested Pigeon. 
THE PLUMED GROUND DOVE. 
(Lophophaps leucogaster). 
Hlabitat.—Southern Australia and North-West 
Australia; but according to Gould, ‘tthe whole of 
Central .\ustralia, the Gulf District, and the 
interior of Northern and North-Western Aus- 
tralia.’” 
Length.—About 8 inches. 
Colouring.—General colour rich cinnamon fawn. 
A long upright crest (like that of the Crested Dove) 
on the head, of fawn and grey. The top of the 
head and a patch behind and below the bare skin 
round the eye, blue-grey. Above this face patch 
and also in front of it are two patches of white, 
that in front going under the chin; the upper 
throat below this is blackish. The lower throat 
and wings cinnamon fawn, the wings having 
black and grey irregular marks across them, 
giving the bird an almost barred appearance. On 
the lower part of each wing a large purplish 
metallic spot. The back is brownish fawn, the 
feathers still edged, but not nearly so distinctly 
as in the wings; the tail is the same colour, but 
with a blackish tip to it. Below the cinnamon on 
the lower throat is a white line right across the 
breast and extending almost behind the shoulders. 
This is bordered again by a black and greyish 
band, the breast below is whitish, the feet red, and 
the bill slate; the iris is orange, surrounded by a 
