ÖCYPIIAPS LOPHOTES.
Crested Pigeon.
■Golumlia Lopliotes, Temin. P1L Co&Mji..—"Wagl Syst A.V.- Columba, sp. 103.—Steph. Co n t. o f Shaw’s Gen. Zool.,
Tol. xiv. p. 289. pi. 34.
The Crested Pigeon of the Marshes, Sturt’s t^o^Exp. to the interior of Southern Australia, vol. i. pi. in p. 24.
Turtur ? Lopliotes, Selky, Nat. Lih. y. Pigeons, p. 174. pi. 18.
The cliasteness of its colouring, the extreme elegance of its form, and the graceful crest which flows back-
wards from its occiput, alllteifd to render this Pigeon one of the most lovelyof its tribe inhabiting Australia,
and^Jn fact I consider it mptuot surpassed in beauty by any other from any part of the; world* It is to he
regretted, that owing to exclusively an inhabitant of the plains of the interior, it can never become
an object of general observation ; hut, like- the Peristera kistrionica and Geophaps scripta, it can only be seen
by those of our enterprising countrymcn^libse love of exploring new countries prompts them to leave for
a time,, the haunts - ImWarider among the wilds of the distant interior, a portion of the
country never to be regarded as solifea¥y^jör uninteresting by those who look with admiration upon the
wonderful works of them Creator ?> th é |pm a of, the interior of Australia has in fact, as I have frequently had
occasion to remark in the co$#g of the present work, features peculiarly its own, and its members are
;eimnently interesting both for their novelty and for the beauty^andytdgganee o f their form.
As mighlvb'e supposed, thik.bihd|b§É attracted the notice.^®l|fqur tyav:eller^who have journeyed across
th'ê.^ ^ni^Mne of, demarea|ion^ ^ ^ t a in i©turt mentions itl^feqing nümeföul on*the plains of Wellington
valley, a i^K J th e neighbourhood I f tlii Mffrumbidgee. It would seejtttQ affect marshy situations in preference;
to others, for Captain Sturt observes that he took its appearance to be a sure sign of his approach
. t S countryyinpre than ordinarily subject to overflow; since, on t3^M^mLh^ie,and the Darling, those birds
were only found to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered ky the Acacia pendula or the Polygonum
junc&m. The locality neares^the coast line that I k n o w ^ it" |n ^H i^ ii|h e country near the great bend of
the river Murray in South Australia, where it is tolerably aË^danf e it abounds on the plains at the back
of Moreton Bay on the banks óf the river Namoi, and is occasionally! hut very rarely, seen on the Liverpool
Plains- It frequently assembles in very large flocks, and when it visits the lagoons or river-sides for water,
^during thadry^ seasons, generally selects a single tree, or even a particular branch, on which to congregate;
very great numbers perching side by;side, and all descending simultaneously to'drink : so closely are they
packed while thus engaged, that I' have heard of dozens of|%gni being killed by the single discharge of a
8 j ts powers p f i g h t , are so rapid as S p unequalled by those of any member of the group to which it
belongs ; an impetus being acquired by a few quick flaps of the wings', it goes skimming off apparently without
may further movement, of the pinions. Upon alighting on a branch it. elevates its tail and throws back its
vbead, so as to bring them nearly together,, at the same time^erecting its crest Êïd shewing itself off to the
utmost advantage, ■ 4
I met with the nest of tbis species in a low tree, on _%egreat plain hea^undermein on the Lower Namoi,
on the twenty-third of December 1839 ; like that of th fc tb q r species of Pigeon, it was a, slight? structure of
small twigs, and contained two whitef É p , ^ i | h w e r * quarter long and nearly an inch broad,
upon whieh the female was then sitting.
The sexes a n dike in plumage. ^ ,
Head, face, throat, breast and' abdomen grey; lengthened occipital plumes black; back of the neck, back,
rump; flanks, upper and. under til.oov.ert8 light olive-brown; the upper tail-coverts tipped with white;
sides of the neck washed with pinky s jmdtefi& u rl feathers covering % insertion ,of the wing deep buff,
each crossed near a line of deephlaek, g i v i n g s part pipmage a barred appearance;
greater wing-coverts sinking bronay greep,, margined w i t h e t e ^ p im a rie s brown, becoming of a deeper
tint as they approach the body; thiffhird^ifcurth and fifth finely margined on the apical half of then-external
web with *■------i-hwhitk the rcTnmAd ^ t ^ A owUn^'dfwilte buundiqgrthe extremities of both webs;
secondaries brawn op their inner webs, b r o ^ u r p l e on: ftejpouter webs a t thebaSe, and brown at the e j .
tremity broadly-margined with whiter tvyo centre tail-feaghers brown, % remainder blackish brown, glossed
with green o p th g if outer webs, and tipped with sh ite ^ irtjjes huffy ^ g ^ § t ó » te naked, wrinkled, and
of a pink-red; nostrils and base of the bill oBye-blkok*ig black; legs .and feet pink-red.
:1 | g figures, are =