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Show 116 MR. E. P. RAMSAY ON THE BIRDS OF [Jan. 18, Cardwell. They were not considered plentiful in the district. Those obtained about Cape York are considerably less in size, and appear more plentiful in that district. 181. CHALCOPHAPS CHRYSOCHLORA. This pretty Ground-Dove is tolerably plentiful over the whole district. I noticed it frequently close to residences and in gardens within the township. 182. LEUCOSARCIA PICATA. This species is not by any means so plentiful as in the brushes of New South Wales, where the woods resound with its monotonous, deep, and melancholy call. It frequents alike the dry scrubs on the margins of rivers, and those which clothe the damp stony sides of the Sea-view range. Its flesh is highly esteemed, and resembles that of a Quail. The bird is strictly a ground-feeder, only taking to the trees when disturbed, where, perched on some thick branch, it remains motionless until apparently all danger is over. The eggs are two in number, of the usual form, but comparatively small. 183. PHAPS CHALCOPTERA. W e met with this bird rarely, and only on the sterile sandy flats in open forest country beyond the coast range, where numerous species of Acacia abound, on the seed of which they feed. 184. GEOPHAPS SCRIPTA. Occasionally found in open forest-country. Met with only in one place, about 30 miles inland. I found it breeding in the Burnett-river district in December 1870. The nest was placed beside a tuft of grass, and consisted of a shallow hole lined with a few blades of dry grass. The eggs were two in number, and of a creamy white. 185. ERYTHRAUCH^ENA HUMERALIS. 186. GEOPELIA TRANQUILLA. 187. GEOPELIA PLACIDA. I found these species by no means rare. They prefer the open country, and feed on the seeds of the " Grass-tree," Xanthorrhcea, and various species of Acacia and other leguminous plants abundant in the sandy tracts about Cardwell. 188. MACROPYGIA PHASIANELLA. This fine species, so abundant in the "brushes" of the Richmond and Clarence rivers in New South Wales, is far from being common in the Herbert-river district; I met with a pair on one occasion only. It was quite an unknown species to most of the settlers in those parts. 189. TALEGALLUS LATHAMI. However plentiful this species may have been formerly in the Rockingham- Bay district, it is now very scarce, only one having been obtained |
