THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Mr. F. L, Berney,* writing from the Richmond District, North Queensland, 
says that the presence of Flock-Pigeons depends largely on the season ; in 
some years there are hardly any, while in others there are large numbers 
of them. In 1906 they were plentiful, and many were nesting in the 
months from April to July — more particularly in May and June ; in previous 
years eggs were found in February and September. They afford excellent 
shooting, if waited for at their watering-places, which they visit morning and 
evening, and are wonderfully plump birds, adult males weighing as much as 
twelve ounces, while in a mixed bag of fifty or sixty they average over nine ounces. 
The squab in the nest is covered with cinnamon-brown down. 
I found this bird very plentiful on the Saxby and Flinders River, in Queens- 
land, in December of 1890 ; this was an exceedingly dry year, and the birds came 
to drink every evening about sundown, in a similar way to that described by 
Mr. Carter. 
The birds figured and described are from Parry’s Creek, North-west 
Australia, and were collected by Mr. J. P. Rogers on the 5th October, 1908. 
* Emu, Vr., p. 47 (1906). 
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