PLATE VII. 
GEOPELIA TRANQITILLA {Gould). 
TEE PEACEFUL DOVE. Genus: Geopelia. 
THE habitat of this bird extends over the interior country north of 32° S. lat., and the bird would appear to affect 
the eastern half in preference to the west, for it is as unknown in Western and South Australia as it is 
plentiful in the country to the north of the Liverpool Ranges, where, in the sparsely timbered region 
skirting the plains, the luxuriant and varied seed-bearing undergrowth assures it ample sustenance and continual 
shelter. 
Its habits are characteristically simple, and in nidification and breeding it does not differ from the 
Barred-shouldered Dove. 
Between the sexes the only noticeable dissimilarity is the slightly inferior size of the hen. 
The note of the male bird is soft and tenderly plaintive, and the Scriptural simile, to " mourn sore like 
doves," appositely illustrates the effect of its monotonous repetition. 
The crown and sides of head, and general under surface of body, grey, each feather on the breast 
margined with black ; back of neck and primary and secondary wing feathers, golden brown ; tail and tertiary 
wing feathers, purple ; irides, dark grey ; bill, blue ; feet and legs, pink. 
The illustration is three-quarter life-size. 
STICTOPELIA CUNEATA (Zeichenbach). 
THE LITTLE TURTLE-DOVE. Genus: Stictopelia. 
BETTER known and more widely distributed than any other of the Doves, the Little Turtle-Dove is found 
in each of the Australian Colonies, and so readily has it accustomed itself to the presence of man, that 
there are few settlers' houses that cannot boast of at least one attendant pair, whilst in the towns and cities it 
appears to accommodate itself equally well to the altered condition of things. 
In habit and character this bird manifests all the typical simplicity, innocence, and harmlessness which 
we are wont to connect with the Dove ideally, and the quaint elegance of its appearance felicitously accords 
therewith. 
In its natural haunts it lives mostly upon the ground, roosting in the smaller trees, and though 
habitually of decidedly solitary habit, it may sometimes, in exceptionally favorable localities, be met with in 
small flocks. In the suburban districts of Sydney I have constantly observed examples, and usually in pairs, 
fluttering about the houses and gardens. 
The nest is constructed of grass-stalks carefully interwoven, much in the manner of those of other doves, 
but considerably neater in structure and form than is customary. This is placed in some bushy shrub, or on the 
overhanging grasses of the grass-tree (Xanthorrhea) , whereon it is more secure from observation. This bird lays two 
white eggs, and its note, always singular, becomes more than usually plaintive and monotonous at pairing time. 
In the male the prevailing colour of the body is a delicate grey, with a citrine tint at throat, back of 
the head, and abdomen; wing coverts, deep neutral colour, with irregular light grey spots; tertiary wing 
feathers, deep brown, with white margins ; tail, neutral colour, with citrine hue ; bill, olive ; feet and legs, deep 
orange. 
The hen differs from the male chiefly in size and in the browner tinge of the wing coverts, and the less 
numerous and more irregular disposition of the grey spots. 
The illustration is three-quarter life-size. 
