Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/233

 The varieties of pigeons and doves in New South Wales are exceedingly numerous. Those most commonly met with are the Wonga-wonga, or pied pigeon, the flock-pigeon, the bronze-wing pigeon, the black pigeon, and the fruit-pigeon, (Palumbes magnifica.) The Wonga-wonga is larger than the English wood-pigeon. It lives entirely in dense brushes, and feeds on the berries of various trees belonging to the myrtle tribe. This bird is rather difficult to shoot, as it sits buried in the dense foliage overhead, and starts off suddenly on the approach of man, with a rapid flight, making a loud whirring sound with its wings, like a partridge. The flesh of the Wonga-wonga is very similar to that of the pheasant, being quite white but very rich, and this bird has often furnished my bush table in the wilds of Australia with a " plat," not to be despised by the most fastidious gourmand. The flock-pigeon, so called from its being a gregarious bird, also resorts to the brushes, where it feeds on various berries, and on the figs of the Australian India-rubber tree, whilst that fruit remains in season. These birds are easily shot when they feed on the lower branches of the trees, but on the higher branches they are beyond the reach of ordinary guns. The flesh of these birds is dark-coloured, like that of the English wood-pigeon, which it somewhat resembles also in plumage, its eye is of a bright crimson, and its head is crowned by a tuft of reddish-brown feathers.