WHITE-HEADED FRUIT-PIGEON. 
Immature female. Differs from the adult in being darker, with fine dusky vermiculations 
on the head, neck and under-surface, but with the same coppery reflections on the 
upper-surface. 
Nest. “ The usual flat and frail structure of twigs, three or four inches across ” (Campbell). 
Eggs. “ Clutch, one to two, but mostly one ; elliptical in shape, sharply nipped off at one 
end ; texture comparatively fine ; surface glossy ; colour, white. Dimensions in 
inches 1.4 to 1.39 by .94 to .96 ” (Campbell). 
Breeding season. October to February (Ramsay). 
When writing of the way in which this bird obtains its food from the fruit- 
bearing trees, Gould* says : “ The slender branches are often borne down by its 
weight, particularly when it clings to the extreme end of the spray to obtain the 
best and ripest fruit ; in this mode of clinging and in many of its actions it far 
more resembles the larger Honey-eaters and Parrots than the pigeons ; the structure 
of its foot is beautifully adapted for the duties it is intended to perform. 
“ The powers of flight of this species are very great, its voluminous wings 
enabling it to pass from one part of the forest to another in a comparatively 
short space of time ; hence flocks may frequently be observed passing over the 
tops of the trees, forsaking a locality they have exhausted of its supplies, and 
in search of another where food is more abundant.” 
Mr. Campbell t writes : “ Their call is ‘ booh-booh,’ the second ‘ booh ’ 
being scarcely audible except when the bird is near at hand.” 
The bird figured and described is a male from New South Wales, collected 
in January, 1890. 
* Handb. B. Austr., IL, p. 113. 
t Nests and Eggs Austr. B., p. 673. 
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