PEACEFUL DOVE 
II 
PEACEFUL DOVE 
Geopelia placida tranquilla 
This delicate, unobtrusive little native Dove is a 
bird whose appearance with us is an infallible sign 
of dry weather in the north ; it does not breed in 
the Geelong district. My friend Mr. J. F. Mulder 
has in his collection a specimen shot in this locality 
many years ago, and in 1910 he noted a pair of birds 
near the tanneries by Prince's Bridge. The only 
other note I had previously to 191 2 was of the appear- 
ance of two Peaceful Doves at Airey's Inlet in 1904. 
On May nth, 1912, I was walking eastwards along 
Ryrie Street at about nine o'clock in the morning, 
when to my amazement I observed one of these 
really rare little creatures feeding unconcernedly in 
the roadway near the corner of Fenwick Street. I 
walked to within a few feet of it, when it flew up, to 
settle again but a short distance on. It did this two 
or three times, giving me an excellent view of it. 
At that time a drought prevailed in the interior. 
This species is best distinguished by the narrow 
bars of black and white which completely encircle 
its neck, each feather having two black bars and 
three white ones. It does well in captivity. Its 
nearest breeding-haunt is the redgum country along 
the Goulburn and Murray Rivers. 
