BRONZE-WINGED PIGEON. 
purple and dark green ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills greyisb-brown, the 
latter edged with white on the outer webs and pale rufous on the inner ones ; tail- 
feathers grey, with a blackish subterminal band ; eyebrow and a line of feathers 
from the gape below the eye and skirting the maroon-chestnut on the side of the 
crown, white ; chin and throat white ; fore-neck and upper breast pale vinous ; 
abdomen pale grey, becoming darker on the thighs and under tail-coverts ; sides of 
the body, axillaries, and under wing-coverts cinnamon, hke the quill lining. “ Bill 
brownish black ; iris dark brown ; tarsi and feet pinky red ” (J. P. Rogers). Total 
length, 360 mm. ; culmen, 28 ; wing, 194 ; tail, 106 ; tarsus, 27. 
In what appears to be a very old male bird, the hinder part of the head is entirely 
maroon-chestnut, the metaUic colour on the wings very bright, inclining to fiery red, 
instead of green, on the greater coverts, and the purple green of the secondaries 
is extended over a greater number of feathers. 
Adult female. Differs from the male in having the fore-part of the head grey, the hinder 
crown earth-brown, like the hind-neck and upper back, the absence of grey on the 
ear-coverts and sides of neck, the much paler vinous on the breast, and the paler 
grey on the abdomen. Total length, 330 mm. ; culmen, 26 ; wing, 182 ; tail, 103 ; 
tarsus, 28. 
Young male. Distinguished from the adult male by the almost entire absence of metaUic 
spots on the vdng-coverts, which are dark grey, edged with white ; hinder part of 
head earth-brown, with a few maroon-chestnut feathers appearing, and the fore- 
part of the head white. 
Nest. “ A slight structure or platform of twigs, shghtly concave and about five inches in 
diameter. Usually placed in the fork of a horizontal limb of a low tree, sometimes 
on a bushy branch or even on a stump in the forest, rarely on the ground ” 
(Campbell). 
Eggs. Clutch, two. A clutch from the Dawson River, North Queensland, are smooth and 
glossy. Pure white. Axis, 32-36 mm. ; diameter, 23-24. 
Breeding season. Usually from October to November ; but eggs have been taken from 
April to September. Two broods are reared in the year. 
Writing to me from Northern Victoria, Mr. E. J. (Christian says : “ This is 
the only species of Pigeon I have ever seen here. I think they live on the 
hard seed of the Saffron-thistle, as in one particular spot where these thistles 
grow very thickly I always flushed one. On the 27th March 1907, I found 
a dead one in the garden that had died from eating some poisoned wheat. 
Mr. F. Howe says this species is occasionally met with at Ringwood (Victoria). 
A nest containing two eggs was found in a Eucalyptus at a height of 35 feet, 
on the 7th November, 1908 ; and young have been seen in the nest at Iferntree 
Gully as late as 27th January, 1907. 
Mr. Tom Carter writes : “ These birds were not seen very frequently in 
the North-west, but are fairly common about Broome Hill, where they feed 
mostly on the seeds of the Jam Trees {Acacia acuminata) as well as on seeds of 
the native poison plant. They often sit very closely on the ground, relying 
on their protective colouring to escape observation. Their first flight, after 
being disturbed, is usually a short but rapid one, to the limb of a neighbouring 
tree. They drink mostly about sundown.” 
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