The SPECKLED or WEDGE-TAILED TURTLE DOVE (_Stictopeleia cuneata_)
belongs to a group of birds inhabiting the continent of New Holland,
distinguishable from the Pigeons above described by their superior length
of tail, in which the five outer pairs of feathers are progressively
shortened, and by their spotted plumage. The head, throat, and breast
are grey; the back and shoulders cinnamon-brown; the feathers on the
wing-covers deep grey, and those on the shoulders decorated with two
white spots, surrounded by a black line; the belly and feathers on the
lower wing-covers are white; the quills brown, with a reddish inner web;
the four centre tail-feathers are grey, with black extremities; the rest
greenish black at the root and pure white at the tip. The eye is bright
red, the bare circle round the eye pale scarlet or greenish yellow; the
beak deep olive-brown, and the foot reddish brown, or yellowish. The
female is smaller than her mate, and of a more decided brown on the head,
throat, and back; the spots on her wing are also fewer, and less clearly
defined. The length of this bird is seven inches and three-quarters,
the wing measures three inches and a half, and the tail four inches and
one-third.
[Illustration: THE STRIPED SPARROW-HAWK PIGEON (_Geopeleia striata_).]
"All that we read or imagine of the softness and innocence of the Dove,"
says Captain Sturt, "is realised in this beautiful and delicate little
bird. It is common on the Murray, and in various parts of the interior
of Australia. Two remained with us at the depôt in latitude 39° 40´,
longitude 142°, during a greater part of the winter, and on one occasion
roosted on my tent-ropes, near a fire. The note of this species is
exceedingly plaintive, and, although softer, much resembles the coo of the
Turtle Dove."
"The Little Turtle Dove," says Gould, "is more frequently observed on the
ground than among the trees. I sometimes met with it in small flocks, but
more often in pairs. It runs over the ground with a short bobbing motion
of the tail, and while feeding is so remarkably tame as almost to admit
of its being taken by the hand; if forced to take wing it merely flies
to the nearest tree, and there remains motionless among the branches. I
not unfrequently observed it close to the open doors of the huts of the
stock-keepers of the interior."
The nest is a frail and beautiful structure, formed of the stalks of a
few flowering grasses, crossed and interwoven. "One sent me from Western
Australia is composed," says Gilbert, "of a small species of knotted
everlasting plant (_Composita_), and was placed on the overhanging grasses
of the _Xanthorrhæa_. During my first visit to this part of the country,
only two situations were known as places of resort to this species, and
I did not meet with more than four or five couples; since that period it
has become exceedingly abundant, and now a pair or two may occasionally be
seen about most of the settlers' houses on the Avon, becoming apparently
very tame, and familiarised to man. This bird utters a rather singular
note, which at times somewhat resembles the distant crowing of a cock. The
term _Men-na-brun-ka_ is applied to it by natives, from a traditionary
idea that the bird originally introduced the _men-na_, a kind of gum
which exudes from a species of acacia, and which is one of the favourite
articles of food among the natives."
* * * * *
The RUNNING PIGEONS (_Geotrygones_) are heavy, and powerfully framed, with
rounded wings, the first primary quill of which is often much shortened;
high, thick tarsi, and short toes. All the species belonging to this group
occupy Southern and Central America.