274 Bird Life Through the Camera. 
The nest is a very frail structure, consisting merely of 
a few beats laid across any small leaf stems that will form a 
supporting base, an astonishing feature being how the eggs are 
retained, and the sitting bird supported, so remarkable is its 
frailty; while when the pair of squabs are partially fledged, 
their little bodies hang over their cot on every side (vide 
" B.N." Vol. V. p. 217). Another surprising feature is their 
prolificness, as many as six pairs being annually reared by a 
single pair. 
Description: With the photo before us I need say 
nothing as to form, or the arrangement of spots. The male has 
the head, neck, and breast of a beautiful delicate grey, 
merging into white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; 
back and shoulders cinnamon -brown; wings also cinnamon 
brown, with the coverts dark grey and the inner webs 
of most of the quills a rich rufous-brown; the tail 
feathers are an arrangement of grey, white and black- 
ish-grey, beautifully harmonised; naked skin round the eyes 
bright red; bill liorn-bruwu; legs and feet reddish-flesh- 
color; the wing is thickly spotted with pure white spots, 
narrowly edged with black. 
The female differs from her mate in slightly infer- 
ior size, browner hue of the upper surface generally, and her 
white wing spots are larger and less numerous than those 
of the male. 
The photo (No. 5) depicts the hen brooding her two 
chicks. 
AusTKALiAN Ckestkd Piukon (Ocy[jhaps luphofcs). 
Another beautiful Australian species, fully three times as 
large as the Diamond Dove and not so well suited for 
timall aviaries as that species, being considerably wilder, neither 
does it breed quite so freely, nevertheless in several roomy 
aviaries it has been quite prolific, and in one of my aviaries a 
pair have reared as many as ten young in a season. The 
birds and their nests are well figured in the photos (Nos. 1 
and 2) reproduced herewith, which also fully portrays their 
handsome appearance, and gives a correct idea of comparative 
size with the other species described in this instalment. 
