WHITE NUTMEG PIGEON 117 



conspicuous and heedless, has the instinct or habit of 

 association, it is argued that they outnumber all the other 

 birds, that their legions are infinite, and that that fact is 

 sufficient licence for the destruction of thousands during 

 the breeding season. Compared with some species, nut- 

 '^^S pigeons may be considered scarce, although their 

 breeding establishments extend over hundreds of miles of 

 the eastern coast of North Queensland. But it must be 

 remembered that the birds breed only on the islands. To 

 preserve them effectually certain islands should be pro- 

 claimed sanctuaries, and genuine sportsmen will never 

 indulge their propensities when haunted by the thoughts of 

 the consequent cruelty. 



There are many contradictory statements in popular 

 natural history works with reference to the habits of this 

 bird, and it may not be out of place to quote what one 

 authority says : — 



" This singularly shy bird has acquired its popular name 

 from the well-remarked habit it has of exclusively frequent- 

 ing the wild nutmeg tree {Myristica), in the tops of which 

 it may be said to pass its life, except during the brief 

 pairing season. Then it commonly selects the denser scrub 

 or the mangroves, most probably guided by their contiguity 

 to fresh water. Here it makes its nest, a more than 

 ordinarily careless structure, the few crossed sticks barely 

 sufficing to prevent the single egg it is destined to receive, 

 from falling through to the ground. The fruit of the nut- 

 meg is undoubtedly swallowed whole by the bird, and to 

 the powers of deglutition is left the separation of the 

 nutritive portion which we know as mace, from the hard 

 and indigestible nut which is voided in flight. Thus this 

 elegant little creature becomes the useful means of dis- 

 seminating the remarkable nutmeg-tree, and it is found that 

 some chemical treatment corresponding to that which it 

 undergoes during sojourn within the body of the bird, is 

 actually necessary before the nut can be fertilised and 

 induced to take root. So strictly arboreal is this pigeon in 

 its habits that it is questionable if it ever alights upon the 



