22 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
16. Torres Strait Pigeon Myristicivora spilorrhoa Gray 
My-ris'-ti-cix/-or-a— L., myristica, wild nutmeg; L., vorare, to eat: spii 
orr (/i)'-o-a—Gk, spilos, spot; Gk, orrhos, tail. 
distribution. Northern Australia, from Kimberley (north-western 
Australia) to Port Denison (northern Queensland) and the islands of 
Torres Strait; also occurs in the Aru Islands and New Guinea. 
notes. Also called White Nutmeg Pigeon. A migrant, arriving in 
flocks in Australia during September or October; after breeding it 
departs at the end of March or April. It breeds chiefly on the islands off 
the coast, and visits the mainland each day seeking food, which consists 
of native fruits and berries, such as quandongs, wild nutmegs, and 
date plums. During the period of incubation the birds carry from the 
mainland food in their crops for their sitting mates. Until protected 
many thousands were killed each year. 
nest. A scanty structure, consisting of a few twigs laid across each 
other in the fork of a horizontal branch of a tree, chiefly mangroves 
and tea-trees; often the egg is visible from below. 
egg. Pure white. Breeding-season: October to the end of January 
or February. 
17. Black-banded Pigeon Leucotreron alligator Collett 
Leuc-dt'-rer-on— Gk, leucos , white; Gk, treron , timorous: alligator— 
Alligator River, Northern Territory. 
distribution. Northern Territory (Arnhem Land). 
notes. The only published note stated that they were never seen 
except in the region near the sources of the South Alligator River in 
Arnhem Land; that their flight was very noisy, and that their food 
consisted mainly of the figs of the bonjon tree, tne fruit of which is not 
bigger than the berries of the mountain ash. 
nest. Undescribed. 
eggs. U ndescribed. 
