THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
is no white on the forehead, as in the male, and the chestnut colour is indicated 
only by a small patch on the sides of the nape and a wash on the sides of the neck ; 
the hind-neck and mantle are like the back. “ Bill black ; iris reddish ; tarsi and feet 
deep coral pink ” (T. Carter). Total length, 298 mm. ; culmen, 25 ; wing, 165 ; 
tail, 84 ; tarsus, 27. 
Immature. Distinguished from the adult, more particularly by the rufous forehead, very 
slight indication of the chestnut throat-patch, and the entire absence of chestnut on 
the hind-neck. 
A male example, from the Dandenong ranges, Victoria, obtained by Mr. Leach in 
1862, which I imagine to be a very old bird, has the general colour much darker and 
more intensified, the most conspicuous feature being the chestnut-colour on the fore- 
part of the head. 
Nest. “ A flat structure or platform of twigs ; usually placed in a thick bush, on a fallen 
tree, or even on the ground, in secluded scrubby localities ” (Campbell). 
Eggs. “ Clutch, two ; elhptical in shape ; texture of shell fine, except the smaller end, 
which is slightly granular ; surface glossy ; pure white. Dimensions in inches 
of a clutch : — 1.32 to 1.24 by .98 to .97 ” (Campbell). 
Breeding season. October to January (Littler) ; March (Carter). 
Incubation-period. Fifteen to eighteen days (Butler). 
The type of this bird was secured by Baudin in D’Entrecasteaux Channel, 
South Tasmania, in 1802, and is now in the Paris Museum. 
Mr. Tom Carter, writing from Western Australia, remarks : “ This species 
seems to take the place of the Phaps chalcoptera along the coast. I have observed 
it on the coastal scrubs at Margaret River, Denmark, and Albany, where a female 
was shot while nesting, on the 7th of March, 1905.” 
Gould* says : “It afiects the most scrubby localities, giving preference 
to such as are low and swampy ; and I have never seen it perch on the branches 
of trees. When flushed it rises very quickly with a loud burring noise similar 
to that made by the rising of a Partridge. The shortness of its wings and tail, 
and the extreme depth of its pectoral muscle, render its appearance more plump 
and round than that of the generality of Pigeons. It is a very difificult bird 
to shoot, from its inhabiting the denser parts of the scrub, from which it is not 
easily driven. It flies but little, rarely for a greater distance than to cross a 
guUy or top a ridge before it again abruptly descends into the scrub. 
“ Its note, more lengthened than that of the common Bronze-wing, is a 
low and mournful strain, and is more often repeated towards the close of the 
evening than at any other time.” 
The female figured and described was collected at Albany by Mr. Tom 
Carter in March, 1905, and is the bird mentioned in his note. 
* Handb. B. Austr., II., p. 125. 
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