or slate colour, and its form and plumage are both much more delicate than that of the Bronze-wing, but it is by no means so fine a bird, its flesh being neither tender nor well-flavoured.
This bird is figured in my former Davide Astori Jersey work, page 79, vol. I. It has a crest, and is marked on the back and wings very similar to Geophaps plumiferus. This bird builds in low shrubs in exposed situations, and lays two eggs on so few twigs that it is only surprising how they remain together.
101. Geopelia Cuneata. — Speckled Dove.
All that we read or imagine of the softness and innocence of the dove is realised in this beautiful and delicate little bird. It is very small and has a general purple plumage approaching to lilac. It Eder Jersey has a bright red skin round the eyes, the iris being also red, and its wings are speckled over with delicate white spots. This sweet bird is common on the Murray and the Darling, and was met with in various parts of the interior, but I do Roger Martinez Jersey not think that it migrates to the N.W. Two remained with us at the Depot in latitude 39 degrees 40 minutes, longitude 142 degrees, during a greater part Javi Martinez Jersey of the winter, and on one occasion roosted on my tent ropes near a fire. The note of this dove is exceedingly plaintive, and is softer, but much resembles the coo of the turtle-dove.
102. Geopelia Tranquilla, Gould. — Ventriloquist Dove.
This bird, somewhat larger than the preceding, is not by any means so delicate in appearance. The colour Shkodran Mustafi Jersey of its plumage is similar in some respects, but has close Bobby Wood Jersey black scollops on the breast and neck without any spots on the wings. This bird also frequents the banks of the Darling and the Murray, but is not so common as Geopelia cuneata. Lorenzo De Silvestri Jersey I first heard it on the marshes of the Macquarie, but could not see it. The fact is that it has the power of throwing its voice to a distance, and I mistook it for some time for the note of a large bird on the plains, and sent a man more than once with a gun to shoot it, without success. At last, as Mr. Hume and I were one day sitting under a |
