448 
THE CRESTED PIGEON. 
abdomen and nnder tail-coverts are white. The eye is chestnut, and under it there is a little 
patch of bare pink skin ; the legs and toes are brownish-yellow, and the beak is brown. The 
young birds of the year are differently shaded with brown ; the head is wholly of that color, 
the wing-coverts are tipped with yellowish-white, and the quill-feathers of the wing are edged 
with a rusty hue. The tail, too, is without the white that distinguishes the adult bird. The 
total length of this species is rather more than eleven inches. 
The little Crested Pigeon, although not so conspicuous as some of its relations, is one 
of the most elegant in form and pleasing in color among this tribe. 
It is a native of central Australia, and, according to Mr. Gould, is fond of haunting the 
marshy ground by the side of rivers and lagoons, and there assembling in large flocks. The 
CRESTED PIGEON and BRONZE- WING PIGEON .— Phaps lopkotes and chalcoptera. 
gregarious propensities of this bird are indulged to an extent that seems almost ridiculous, for 
a large flock of Crested Pigeons will fly to the same tree, sit closely packed upon the same 
branch, and at the same moment descend in a mass to drink, returning in a similar manner to 
their perch. The flight of this bird is strong, and rather curiously managed. When it starts 
from the tree on which it is sitting, it gives a few quick strokes with its wings, and then darts 
off on steady pinion with an arrowy flight. When it settles, it flings up its head, erects its 
crest, and jerks its tail over its back, so that the crest and tail nearly touch each other. Its 
nest is, like that of most Pigeons, made of little twigs, and placed on the low forking branch 
of some convenient tree. While sitting on tbe nest, or perching quietly on the bough, the 
crest lies almost upon the back, and from below is hardly distinguishable from the rest of 
the plumage. 
The head, face, and most of the under portions are pearl-gray, the long slender crest being 
jetty black, and the sides of the neck tinged slightly with pink. The back of the neck, the 
back, flanks, and both tail-coverts are light brown ; the feathers at the insertion of the wing 
are buff, crossed with black nearer their tips, and the great coverts are shining bronze-green 
edged with white. The primary feathers of the wing are brown, some partially edged with 
brownish -white, and the rest with pure white. The secondaries are brown in their inner webs, 
