COLUMBID.^.. 487 



THE RUFOUS TURTLE-DOVE. 



TuRTUR ORiENTALis (Latham). 



At a meeting of the Zoological Society held on May 6th 1890, 

 the late Mr. Seebohm exhibited a bird of this species which, 

 according to a letter from Mr. J. Backhouse, had been obtained 

 near Scarborough on October 23rd 1889 ; at the same time and 

 place that a Red-breasted Flycatcher was shot (Pr. Z. S. 1890, p. 

 361). Through the kindness of Mr. Backhouse and the authorities 

 of the York Museum, I have recently examined this Turtle-Dove, 

 which is a bird of the year, and is the counterpart of one from the 

 mouth of the Amur, in Eastern Siberia, shot on October 13th, and 

 now in the British Museum (Natural History). 



A young bird of this species was found in December 1842 among 

 some game from Herjeiidale in North Sweden ; and in October 

 1850 a similar example was caught alive near Piteii, in lat. 65^ N. 

 The latter was sent to Stockholm in 1851 and lived, under the care 

 of W. Meves, the well-known curator, until 1853, when, having 

 attained its full plumage, it was " made into a specimen." In Asia, 

 the Rufous Turtle-Dove is found from the base of the Eastern 

 Himalayas to Central India, Assam, Tipperah, North Burma, China 

 and Japan ; also in Manchuria, and in Southern Siberia from the 

 mouth of the Amur to the Upper Yenesei. 



This bird is the T. meena of many writers on the birds of India, 

 where breeding seems to take place from December to April. The 

 eggs are oval, white and glossy : measurements 1*15 in. by "9 in. 



The adult male is larger than our Turtle-Dove, and has the black 

 feathers on the sides of the neck tipped with bluish-grey instead of 

 white ; the breast and also the belly distinctly vinaceous ; the rump 

 slate-blue ; the under tail-coverts and the terminal band of the tail- 

 feathers lavender-grey. Length 13 in., wing 7*4 in. The female is 

 rather smaller. The young bird has no neck-patches, and its upper 

 parts are duller in colour, but the rump is distinctly slate-blue. 



Five examples of the American Passenger-Pigeon, Ectopistes 

 migraforius, have been shot in the British Islands, but it may 

 reasonably be doubted whether any of them had crossed the 

 Atlantic in a wild state. At least one of these had evidently been 

 in captivity, while it is notorious that, from 1830 onwards, many have 

 been brought over and turned loose in this country. 



