_J. Gould and H.C. Richter lithog._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
GEOPHAPS SCRIPTA.
Partridge Bronze-wing.
_Columba scripta_, Temm. Pl. Col. 187; and in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii.
p. 127.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 284.
_Geophaps scripta_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8, 1842.—G.
R. Gray, Appendix to Gen. of Birds, p. 12.
This Pigeon has more than ordinary claims to the attention both of the
ornithologist and the epicure, since to the first it is of interest as
being a typical example of a minor group of the _Columbidæ_, whose
habits and economy are very peculiar, and to the second as a most
delicate viand for the table. It is, unquestionably, the best bird I ate
while in Australia; and, in my opinion, it is second to none in any
other part of the world: the quality of its flesh is so superior to that
of the Common Bronze-wing, that the latter cannot for a moment be put in
comparison with it; for, as in the Wonga-wonga Pigeon, another most
excellent bird for the table, both the upper and under pectoral muscles
are white, juicy and delicately flavoured, while in the Common
Bronze-wing the upper muscle is brown. It is to be regretted that a bird
possessing such high qualifications as an article of food should be so
exclusively a denizen of the plains of the interior that it is available
to few except inland travellers. It is equally interesting to the
sportsman, no other bird not strictly gallinaceous offering so close a
resemblance to the members of the genus _Perdix_ (Partridges) in many of
its habits and manners as does the Partridge Bronze-wing; and I conceive
that in no instance is the theory of the analogical relationship of one
group to another more strikingly borne out than in the close resemblance
of the members of this group to those of the genus _Perdix_.
When on the ground it has so much the carriage and actions of a
Partridge that it might readily be mistaken for one. I sometimes
observed it in pairs, but more frequently in small coveys of from four
to six in number, which, when approached, instead of seeking safety by
flight, ran off with exceeding rapidity in an opposite direction, and
crouched down either on the bare plain or among any scanty herbage that
appeared to offer the least shelter. It is withal so excessively tame,
that it is not unfrequently killed by the bullock-drivers with their
whips, while passing along the roads with their teams. The colouring of
the bird assimilates so closely to that of the ground or the herbage,
that when crouched down for shelter it is not easily to be seen, and
they will often lie until it is all but trodden upon. It rises with
extreme rapidity, making a loud burring noise with the wings and
generally spinning off, not, as might be supposed, to another part of
the plain, but to the horizontal branch of a large tree, on which it
immediately squats down quite flat, in the same line with the branch,
from which it is not easily distinguished or driven off. The shortness
of its wings gives it much the appearance of a Partridge during flight,
and it also assimilates in the arrow-like direction of its course to the
nearest tree, terminating with a skimming motion of the wings before
alighting.
The nearest point to the colony of New South Wales in which I met with
this bird was the Liverpool Plains, from whence to as far as I proceeded
on the Lower Namoi its numbers appeared to increase. I have also heard
from other travellers that it is equally abundant on all the plains and
banks of the rivers between New South Wales and the Murray in South
Australia; but I have never yet observed it in collections either from
the northern or western portions of the continent.
The eggs are two in number, and are deposited on the bare ground without
any nest. The young both run and fly strongly when they are only as
large as a quail, as I satisfactorily ascertained by killing one which
rose before me; but at what bird I had fired I had not the slightest
conception until I picked it up.
In speaking of this bird as an inhabitant of the plains, I must not fail
to mention that it was far more abundant on such as were intersected by
rivers and water-holes; in fact, a good supply of water seemed to be
essential to its existence. Its chief food is the seeds of various
grasses and other small plants, to which are added at some seasons
insects and berries.
Head, all the upper surface and chest light brown, the extremities of
the wing-coverts and the edges of the primaries being much paler; the
outer webs of several of the greater coverts with a speculum of greenish
purple obscured, barred with a darker tint; chin and throat, a broad
stripe from the lower mandible to beneath the eye, another stripe from
the posterior angle of the eye down the side of the neck, and a spot on
the side of the neck snow-white, the interspaces being jet-black, the
latter colour surrounding the eye, and also forming a crescent across
the lower part of the throat; abdomen grey; flanks white; all but the
two centre tail-feathers greyish brown at the base and largely tipped
with black; bill black; irides black; naked skin surrounding the eye
bluish lead-colour; the corners immediately before and behind the eye
mealy vinous red; feet and frontal scales dark purplish vinous red.
The figures are of the natural size.
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