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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.*Penny, G. C., Lands Dept., Hobart.Pies se, 'K L., BaY'I'o,td, Hobart."Philp. J. E., Battery Point, Hobart.Pitfield, L., Glebe Town, Hobart.*Pitman, C. A., Landi! Dept., Hobart.

""Pitman, C. B., ,Lands Dept., Hobart.*Pottenge,l', H. Lo, 265 Dav'eY'str-eet,Hobart.Pretyman, E. H., Sitll'ily ,Bay, Hobart.*Rpid, A. R., LiIerpool,treet, Hobiut.Roberts, M,s. H. 1.., Beallmaris, BatteryPoint, Hobart.Robey, }fiss, Fed'Talstreet, Hobart."Rod way, L., Ylacquariestreet, Hobad.Simpson, T. C. Holebrook Place, Hobart.

"*8im80n, Aug., High-st,reet, Launceston.

"'Smith, Dr. G., London."'Smith, J. E., Friends' High School,Hobart.Stephens, A. ~ \ . , Lansdowne Crescent,'Hobart.Tarleton, J. W., Sandy Bay, Hobart.Tlib." I t , jun., :\Iurraystreet, Hobart.Walpole, S., Union Bank, Hobad.WalkE(', B. Rtndy Bay, Hobart.*Watchorn . A .0., Battel:y Point, Hobart.Wa.l'dman, J., Botanic Gardens, Hobart.Watson, H., Sandy Bay, Hobart.*vYhite, .\., IBroomhill, Mangalore.Woolley, C. E., Lindi,.sfarne. _Wright, C., Trinity Hill State School,Hobart.

t96e :J3reeding J-{abits of:J3ronzewing ~ i g e o n sBy MARY G. RDBERTS, M.A.S.E., M.A.D.U.

(The bird", inre de,alt with are our oommon hronz,ewing (lPhaps chalcoptera)and) ,th:e crelSlted br.mwewinlg of Ne wSou.th Wale" (Dcyphaps lophotes).)Jn my aviaries, whn'e these y a r i e t i c ~iuv,e been kept ,se'as,on af,ter ,s;ea,son underrxa.ctly ,the same 'coonditiol1S, I find thetime of year in w h i ( i . ~ they begin tolJUilll, and the period nesting -last,;,vdry consid,erably; influenced, no d o u b ~ ,by ,the severity ,or 'obherwise of weathercondition:;,. 'E1or inJSltance, in 1904 they bothbegan t,o lay in July and! .A:ugust, an dooth s'alt five times a,nd earried on hreeding O'peroa,tjoILs until ,quite the end of

Ma rcll. J,t is alrrrO's,t needLesls ,to say thatall the eggs were nll't haotd .ed, nor al lthe young I-ea red; in one inls,tance a pairof ,QUI' .own bronzewing;s fell from tlhenest and d!ied when a few days .old, andd.rrot.her time one egg was laid and forgak"m. Some uuto'W,ard circumst,ance011&0 befell thecre.s'ted variety, andl, Lrammy eXlperi,ence, I c.onclude tha,t threetimes n,e,st'ing in one season would be thenormal .or outsiue number. In ,the IollO'wiuO' veal' (l'!)05) O'perations commenced,tiIJ e':'a;lie'r, /lnd, to my ,surprise, O'n JuneZi I. found! egg.s in the neist .of tbe NewSoUtil Wales emst'ed, and! ,twO' day:;, laterin that of our common brO'nze-wing. Therea ~ ' e many disappointments in avicultn:e,the

c ~ ' e s t ' e d bronze wings deserted the nestowing ItO being disturbed.dluri.ng ,sonie al tenvtion:;, -to the aviary, and ,the Y'0ung ofour bTonzewings hatched out only to fallvict.ims ,too 'U sudden and ,severe ehange oftempera,ture. The hen nested again atth'e end! of AUgUSit, but on: S e ~ t e m b e r ,l6heavy fall 'ofS'now wa.s ,responsible for(11 )

Ll1e l . ~ a t h of one squab; next morning theother died" and ,the foUDwing momingthe mo,tller-a matter of keen regret tome, as during her ,short aruCb iruterClSltinglife iHdJ engraf.ted very much pleal:lureintO' mine. The last .se'a"O'.n (1906) wa"mnlb later ,than usual, .owing ,to thefrequent. andJ intermittent OIInowstormswhi,:h fell upon the mountain up ito thebeg:nning of Decembe.r. The bird.s ,show-2d HO sign of ne,sting until October, andit was X ovember befO'I1e the first 'COlmmonbl'onz{'wing Wia3 ,ha,tched; It,hey were notonly' later ill! hegi.nning, but earlier inleaving .O'ff, .and by t l l ~ e n d ,of Nlovem'bect h i . . ~ y!tl'ie,ty had lfinished, ,the result beingtw'O young frO'm the 'fiI1st nesting, andom, frO'm the s'econd,; .the cres,ted varietylud: be'gu.IlJ somewha,t earlie.r. I t ha,,,, b&..'ni t gl'ea,t pl'ea.sn.re t'o me watching tl'Je nesli;!ng O'pera-tioILs,of ,truese two -varietiesbeing carried on s,imultaneously, aIUlIoucrhdenizen;! of d'iffe'l'Cll't states. In 5pewk.ing to cOll'ntry re,side.nts, ,they invm'ialilytell me that Ghrisltm!LS is the he.st time't'oobtain yO'ung b i ~ d ' 9 , buJt I 'fail till' a'gree)YitllL them, a,s the ra,et" which J Ihaye

g i y ~ ' n pl'oYe the oppo.site. They mayp l ' l ) h a h l ~ - ,",ee more birdl, about duringt in t tim2, as, doubtle,ss eiUl3r foOl' worklH' plp .. sure ithey ram:ble in th e hushll1uch more frequently in ,summer tha

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THE TASi\1ANIAN NATURALIST.the rapid g w w t i ~ of ,thoe squabs, is no

tonger able to pwtect Ithem hom t'hecoM; hence I have found Ithem d'ead inthe l lorningon more than one occasbon.f ba-ve .an idiea Ithat by removing !theyoung 'ones to Ithe hous'e during toelIigM, when a sudd\:!n tall ,of temperaturet,ake.s pllwe,these d'isa,Sltrousre,sults might00 arverted. I B e s ~ d e . s Ithese two varieties.[ have many othe'rs, induding the brushbI'o,nze!wing ,(IPlmps e.legane), ~ v h i c h i,g nowalmost u n o h t a ~ n a b l e , a n d which is ithoughtby English aviculturists much handwm('rthan the '(lommoner variety, ,the W,onga'Vonga I(ll,eooo,;jaroia pieata) olf !NewS.outh 'Wiales, w'ell known for its ,sizeand a,s hein:g tbe posse,ssor of w b ~ t e fie.S1b;the lParltridge iboonze\wiing (GeophapsSoCript,a), commonly called the squat ter-the only remaining white-fiesh Y.ariety,and considered by Gould ,the most deliciolls of all pigeons; the iplumed grounddove (IGe'oIplu:ps. :plumi'fera), the la,tter oneof the mos!t a,ttractive .of bird,,; hoth ofthpse breed upon th c gronnd, and

believed to he a connprtillg" linl;:be'tween the partridge and ,tIN) pigeon;the young leaves the nest, if not a,s ealrlya,s quail, much eRlrlier ,than pigeons d'o;t'he 1'it'tle green ,pige'on '(Ohalocophal);; chry

, ~ o c h l o r a ) , .of New .south Wales, a cbarminogbird of .small size, w1tb lwi:ght green,vings and Vina{le.ous breasit,' also the.Tava neckLace and white Barbarv doves.Botb t,hese varieties have bred '; 'ith me,,md I hope to 'acclima,t1se th e fDrmer,f{)r it is evidently hardy, is now verycommon about the swburhs of Syd,ney,andconstantly ItO he heard CODing fromthe pine t r e e ~ . The bird m ar aho belIfen ,about the J.a,wns, or often fped,ing,vioth the .sparro'Ws from any .seedh{)xthat is near alt hand. I had Un illli.siortune ,to lose '" pair {If crowned NewGuinea pigeons (Goura ID"A,J'Iwrtisi), eplpbm,ted' bOlth for size and beauty. Thispig'eon i.s of a light ;s11a te C . O l ~ U l , withrich maroon hreast. Otber di,stingui,shingtea,tnres ,aTe br:i.gh-t red! eyes .and a largeran-.shclped crest. r,t]" heliewcl in NewGuinea that in capitvitv the . lo.se al lprid!e in this remnrklahle' d o r ~ l l l e n ' t , but;;uch is not the 'case, a:s I DI'equentlv noticed that w:hen ,si,tting on ,thp groundl.b,ey found occupation in dms,sing- withtl)e beak the crest 'of eae.h o,tlwr. Toe'finer oOf the 'ttwO' .feU '[\, vie-Um toOthe 'biad ite'mipeT 'of a Siilvpr pheasant.Her companion, alw,ays a d, .1iC'ate hird.died from na,tuml cause". I l I a n ~ nevercea,sed to grieve oOver my los>;, fiS und,erpr'esentcondlitiollos there is littlf' chance

As autumn app,roaches man." scarlet- \hreasted r o b i n ~ (IPetroeca Leggii) maketheir way from t'he bush into till' gardens .( 12)

of having ,them replaced. The Government 'of 'British New Guinea b.1;; noOw aprotec-tive poOlicy with regard toO the:sel>irdlS" and will no:t allow ,them ,to he exporbed. I und'erstand t tn t the onlychaIl!ce would he ,to' try for ,them in Germ.an New Guh:.}a. I.n thinking over them.erits of these differen t varieti,e.s ,thereis none I think ,sO' ,charming to 'keep.nor more wor.thy .of {lur ad!mimti'on inmany way,s, than our COmlIlJOn bronzewing. It ,bs not necess.ary ,to (lonsider ,thewaJls 'of the allits 'only t,O' find wisdlo.m;we (lan .obtain and ma,ny o,ther le.ssons,by makiIl!g ourselves famiHar with thehabit.s and doispO'siti'o'll of ,these lird,s.lh e cO'ck e,peci,ally i,s, worthy of notice;,as soon a,51 we hear him cooo-ing to a,t'tract the attention of his ma,te we knowtha,t nesting {I.pematioon& aJ'e abDut tobegin, and! by wa.tching :we sO'on see 'him.tiying from place ,to iplac,e in ,search of ag'ood ,foundlJ,tion ,to huild upon. As soonas tbi,s' impor,tant ma,tter is, ,settled, andalthough ,the nes,t at Ifill1stis wmposed'of ,a few twigs or .small ;,tick" only, eachone is carefully .t.e,s:t'ed before 'being ,takenup, a ne! I l:lllv'e 'often been "urpris'ed to,see hDW many have been rejede(l a'sunsuitable. [During incubaition, ,and afterw;:trch, I have 'of,te,n seen them ,addingfresh material, a,s i f too enhan'ce ,the comfor,t and s,ecurity of ,tbEl abode. Doe" not,all ,this Ishow a gr,ea,t ,amDunt of intelligence and! reasoning power? iBey'oml thisthe birds al"e bra ve in defence ofthe eggs and young, both before and,after hatching. A,Lthough I have oftentri.ed, I have never . s u ~ e d e d in driving

t h ~ m from the nest-ei,ther parent wouldfiip handW'ith his or bel' wing. andwith fiashinlg 'eye 'Utter a note .of disapproval with all ,the voice it could oommand. I always turned! ,awaY' vanquished.but with increased adimJirat.ion I()f theirb r a v e r ~ ' . When feeding w ~ t l ' : J iJ:oe pheasant-s I have n{)ticed them attempt t()shrike the la.tter with their wings, :which,sho\\18 HIem too be possessed of a goodamount of courage. 'At the pres'ellit ,timeln e,ffort is being made by the Avicultural S o c i p t ~ " 'of England.too introducehoLjo, varieties of ,these pig>eons into theipublic pal,k,s a.bout ,London, but I dDubtif our h.-onze-wing will lend itself to aeclimntiila,tion in .