GEOPELIA ;HTJMERALIS,
Barred-shouldered Ground-Dove.
Columba humer alls, Temm. PI. Col. 191.
Mangrove Pigeon, resident at Port Essington.
There are reasons for believing that the. Geopelia humeralis inhabits the whole of the vast interior of
Australia:as well as th ê^^ghföurhood of the coasts of its northern and eastern portions. In New
{South Wales it is sparingl^dfei^led over the- Liverpool Plains, where some of the specimens I possess
were, obtained," while others were procured a t P o^t'pp^gtop^ ;f ,As the structure of- its legs would indicate,
I t passes the ground, feeding,on the. seeds of various kinds of grasses and leguminous
plants." NofeoB^lSfil^ohe olflme*most eleganttof tlieaDove-'tHbéf^8(^ )itin g Australia, but it is also one of
themosttame and docile, if I may judge fromfhe few Pops^fved on the heated plains of New South Wales:
their.coni^eHCe^asisHch 'that they sometimes perched within two, yards of the spot where I was sitting;
extreme a|seanty supply of water may|höwéver; have rendered them more tame and bold than
they - otherwise wouldshaye been.
Mr., Gilbert states that at Port Essington “ |pls^Pigeon is extremely abundant, inhabiting thickets,
swampy grounds, and the banks of running streaps< It. mostly feeds on the seeds of various kinds of
grasses, but when the country becomes burnt; it finds an abundant supply of berries jigl ihe thickets.
I t ma^:o^ ^ f e ^^%amDpg the mangroves in flocks of several hundreds, and hence its colonial name
qfrMangrove -Pigeon. It was equally numerous during thewholWperiQd of my stay in that part of the
country. . «pf specimens may be readily procüred, fo p p e n disturbed the bird merely flits from
•branch to branch, on if in an ópen part of the country t o ^ ^ ^ a |e 's t ‘trge. I did not on any occasion observe
" it take anything approaching a sustained flight. Its most common note is a rather loud coo-coó, occasionally
uttered a t long intervals - p S in g the pairing-season the-note becomes of a softer tone, and'is more rapidly
repeated, and its actions very^much resemble those o f the Domestic Pigeon of Europe,. I t breeds in
August,, and makes a very slight nest, of slender twigs, loosely and carelessly laid across each other on two
the lower leaves of the Pandanus, the upper leaves of which afford it a shelter from the rays of
the sum^and from the rain ; thc.gggs pre two in number of a delicate fleshy-white.”
The sexes ar^aljke in colouring.
Forehead, cheeks, sides of the neck and breast delicate grey 5, op|^uf;-back,-wmgrcoverts, rump and
upper tai^GOvei-ts silky brown 5 back o f^ h q ueck rufous, every feathertpl the upper Surface bounded a t tbe
extremity with a narrow band of b l a c k w h o l e a squamated or scaled appearance; under surface
o f the shoulder and the ihhpr webs, except their tips, o f th e primaries and secondaries fine rust-red; outer
webs andtips^of the inner webs o f the primaries and secondaries brown; two centre tail-feathgrs: d a rk ^ e y ,
the remainder reddish brown at thé base, gradual|yincreasing in intensity towards thgirtips, those nexfthe
centre ones washed with grey on their outer webs, and all but th é ‘c e |g é i ones largely t i p p ||^ t ^ w h i t e ;
centre of the abdomen white; the remainder of the under surface w a s ^ d ;i^ fe ^ n ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ p c l^ e ry e lIow >
bill and nostrils delicate mealylighf bjue; naked skin rpund the eye mealy purple; legs a ^ f ê é t pink red.
The Plate represents a male and fgjnale of the natural size;