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BRONZE-WINGED GROUND DOVE. 
Phaps chalcoptera. 
PLATE XXI. 
Columba chalcoptera, Lath. Jnd. Ornith. 2. 604, sp. 39 
W'dgler, Syst. Av. sp. 57. — Columba Lumachelle, Temm. 
Pig. 8vo, p. 103, pi. .22. 
Although this species cannot vie in richness 
ami diversity of plumage with many of the pigeon 
tribe, yet there are few whose general appearance 
gives greater satisfaction or pleasure to the eye. 
This appears to be the result of the effect produced 
by the metallic splendour of the spots upon the wing- 
coverts (which, in different lights, emulate the opal, 
the ruby, and the sapphire in brilliancy), as contrast- 
ed with the pleasing though subdued tint of the rest 
of the plumage. 
The Bronze-winged Dove is a native of Australia, 
and many of the islands of the Pacific. It affects 
sandy and arid situations, and is usually seen upon 
the ground, or sometimes perched upon the low 
branches of the shrubs that grow in such situations. 
It breeds in the holes or decayed stumps of trees 
near the ground, and not unfrequently upon the sur- 
