Mr. E. Blyth on the Columbinse. 513 



of that country/^ Lastly, Capt. Hutton states that " it is found 

 in Afghanistan, where, as in many parts of India, it builds in 

 wells and ruined buildings ; the ' Kazeezes,' or Artesian wells of 

 Afghanistan, are sometimes crowded with them. They occur 

 also in the Deyra Doon, and are known as the common Blue 

 Pigeon. At Masuri, I have seen them only in the cultivated 

 fields, low down on the sides of hills, in warm situations.^' 

 Length ] 3 in. by 23 in. in breadth ; and C. livia is described as 

 measuring 13J in. by 22 in. ; though it is doubtful if there be 

 any real difference. 



Upon other authority we have been assured that the common 

 Blue Pigeon of Afghanistan has the white rump of the European 

 livia. It is probably identical with the Kemaon bird next to 

 be described; and both with the C. rupestris of the Prince of 

 Canino. 



The late Major Boys, a most experienced collector of Indian 

 birds, whose description of the Indian ^ Stock Pigeon' we have 

 just verified, also distinguished a 'Blue Rock Pigeon,' which 

 he procured at Hawulbagh, in Kemaon. " This Pigeon/' he 

 remarks, " differs considerably from the common Blue Pigeon, 

 particularly in its weight and size. It is in every respect much 

 lighter in plumage. Length of a male 12| in. by 25 in.; 

 weight 7 oz. 8 dr. Bill black, the cere grey; iris red; legs 

 pink. Top of head, chin, and sides of face, ashy-grey. Back 

 of neck and upper part of breast glazed metallic green. Bottom 

 of neck metallic purple, blending into ashy light grey on the 

 belly. Flanks and vent light grey; wing-coverts and upper 

 part of the back of the same colour. Middle of back white. 

 Upper tail-coverts dark ashy-grey. Quills grey, the shafts black, 

 darker near their tips ; second quill longest ; outer webs darker 

 than the inner. Some of the larger wing-coverts, those covering 

 the tedrices [tertiaries ?], together with the six or seven last 

 tertiary feathers, bear a patch of greyish -black, which, when the 

 wing is extended, forms two indistinct and somewhat curved 

 bands. Tail dark grey at base, broadly tipped with black, and 

 having between these two colours a broad stripe of white (wanting 

 in the common C. intermedia). Inferior coverts white, blending 

 with grey towards the anterior margin of the wing. Length of 

 tail 5 in. ; the quills (when the wings are closed) reaching to its 

 tip. The exterior tail-feathers are pure white from their bases 

 on the external web, finished off at the tip with black ; the inner 

 webs being grey at the base, as obtaining in the intermediary 

 feathers." 



Any collector who has the opportunity should endeavour to 

 verify this particular race, the habitat of which would seem to be 

 intermediate to that of the ' Snow Pigeon' (C Uuconota) and that 



