Some Notes on the Brown -quilled Rock Dove. 305 
and as I have unfortunately no aviary airommodalioii for 
Pigeons, 1 was obliged to adopt the rather risky plan of 
turniiio them out with cut wings in a large enclosure contain- 
ing a shelter of glass and woodwork. 
/-". rufi peiinis is slightly sinaUer tli.m the Austra- 
lian Hronzc-winged Pigeon, and of rather the same build. 'I'he 
plumage is dark chocolate, thickly spangled on the head, neck, 
and upper breast with pearly whitish spots which give the 
bird the appearance of being covered with dewdrops. 'I'lic 
flight feathers are bright chestnut and the fejt and bjak 
brown. The sexes appear to be alike. 
After being turned out my birds spent most of their 
time ir. the shelter referred to, sitting huddled up together in 
a long row wuh feathers ru.'ifled and heads sunfv between 
their shoulders. Their attitude was one of e.\tremc dejection, 
but 1 have good reason to believe they were neither unhealthy 
nor unhappy. They were very tame and allowed themselves 
to be approaclied closely. Only when one was wiihm a few 
feet of them, would they bestir themsidves, running oft rapidly 
on their very short legs and making quick nervous move- 
ments with their heads. On reaching a safe distance, they 
would stop, ruftle their feathers, huddle up together, and 
relapse into a state of coma. The only note 1 heard ihem 
utter wai. a short low coo, sometimes repeated rather quickly 
twc or three times. They never cjuarrelled either among them- 
selves or with other birds, and I never witnessed any courtmg 
display, although a pair would occasionally caress each other. 
Remembering that they were natives of an extremely 
dry hot part of Australia, i feared that my Brown-qudled Rock- 
Doves would do badly during the winter months, but my 
fears were not justified, for although their shelter was practic- 
ally unlieated, only one — the roughest of the loL- got lii durmg 
the cold weather, and tliat recovered on being placed in a 
hot room. After their wings had grown the Doves unfor- 
tunately began to disappear at intervals, one by one, and 
nothing more was heard of them. They never perched in 
trees, alighting, after being disturbed, either on the 
ground or on a rock or the ledge of a building. Their 
iiight was low and rapid, but they seldom went more thau 
