PLATE VIII. 
PHAPS CHALCOPTERA (SeUy). 
THE COMMON BBONZEWING. Genus : Phaps. 
THE popular name of Bronzewing is applied to many species, and is descriptive of the main peculiarity of the 
plumage — a clearly denned spot of lustrous bronze adorning the wing coverts. In the bird under notice, 
this spot is strongly pronounced against the rich brown and grey tints, harmoniously blended, on the back, wings, 
breast, back of the neck and forehead. The head and chin are a pale buff ; upper tail feathers, brown ; under 
feathers, grey, softening towards abdomen, and developing into brown madder at the breast, again merging into 
the grey of the throat ; bill, very dark neutral color ; irides, rich brown ; and the legs and feet, light red. 
The hen is very similar, but the coloring throughout is subdued, and lacks much of the brilliancy exhibited 
in the male. 
This bird is found all over the Australian continent, wherever enough water to satisfy its small 
daily requirements is within reach of its evening flight ; a flight which is remarkable alike for its extraordinary 
power, and the swift, arrow-like directness of its course. 
With, perhaps, the single exception of the " Wonga Wonga " {Leucosarcia picata), the Common 
Bronzewing is unexcelled as an article of food, especially after the harvest season, when it will often turn the 
scale at from eighteen to twenty ounces. The sweet flavor, and the juiciness of its flesh, render it an agreeable 
delicacy, highly valued for invalids on account of its nutritious properties. 
In its favorite haunts, which are yearly becoming more and more restricted as settlements increase, it 
may be regularly observed, morning and evening, scratching busily on the ground for such food as the thistle 
and wattle [Acacia pycnantha, decurrens, etc.) provide ; or, in mid-day, lazily dozing in the leafy shade of the 
taller trees, wherein it nightly roosts. Often the weary, benighted traveller is under deep obligation to this 
bird for an indication, by its loud, but tender, coo, of the vicinity of water, which its invariable practice 
of drinking before seeking rest reliably affords him. 
Its nest, like that of others of its family, is simply a careless collection of twigs and sticks, placed in 
the fork of some low gum tree {Eucalyptus), honeysuckle {Banksia), or native cherry {Exocarpus), and 
is always within convenient distance of water. 
In exceptionally favorable seasons, three broods are occasionally reared, but usually two suffice to 
occupy the attention of the pair during the breeding time, between the months of August and February. The 
eggs are pure white, and after two have been laid the hen commences sitting ; then the male-bird becomes especially 
attentive, relieving the hen very frequently upon the nest, and generally exhibiting the most affectionate and 
untiring interest in his mate and their offspring, while every action testifies to his pride, his self-importance and 
tender solicitude. 
Although some slight difference in the size and markings of the feathers is observable in various 
localities, it is too trifling and unimportant to merit a separate classification such as some naturalists have 
put forward ; while it serves to endorse the theory of migration which such separate classification would 
negative. 
The illustration is two-thirds life-size. 
PHAPS ELEGANS {Gould). 
THE BBTJSH BBONZEWING. Genus: Phaps. 
WITH the exception of the Common Bronzewing (P. Chalcoptera), this species is found over a more extensive 
area than any other of its genus, being plentifully distributed over the whole of the southern portion of the 
Australian Continent, and especially abundant on the islands off the Victorian coast and the whole of 
Tasmania. Inland, I have met with this bird as far north as 25° S. lat,, and most commonly, as on the borders of the 
" Ninety-mile Desert," affecting the inallee {Euc. dumosa) or other dwarf scrub land, always in the vicinity of 
water or marsh, but never in flocks, and, excepting during the breeding season, scarcely ever in pairs. 
