SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF CERTAIX RING-DOVES. 191 



"We cannot well understand the reasons which led Buffon to regard the Collared Dove 

 Columbe a collier) as a second race, or a constant variety, within the species of our common 

 Turtle;" and still less how this celebrated naturalist could assert that this dove is found in 

 our clime. However, it is uncertain that these pigeons do not form a race or constant 

 variety of our common Turtle,'' since it is with some difficulty that we succeed in getting 

 hybrids (metis) by crossing these species — hybrids which are obtained only through the 

 skilled care of man, and which nature never would ha^'e l^een able to produce. Moreover, 

 the common Turtle is native to our clime, while the other is only kept in cages, where it 

 reproduces under the care which we are accustomed to bestow upon it. 



"The species which forms the subject of this article has, then, been imported from 

 warm countries, as indicated by its sensitiveness to cold even now, after a domestication 

 which seems already quite ancient. We recognize this bird, unmistakably, in the descrip- 

 tion which Brisson gives of the 'Collared Turtle of Senegal,' a species which Buffon incor- 

 rectly identifies with his 'Tourterelle du Senegal' (colored plate. No. 160). We have akeady 

 spoken of this error of Buffon in the article on the Emerald Dove {Colombe Emeraudine). A 

 modern naturalist,* to whom natural history is already indebted for several interesting 

 discoveries, has found the species here under consideration living in full freedom and breed- 

 ing in a wild state in the midst of the ancient forests of southern Africa. Thunberg^ has 

 found this Collared Turtle in all the southern countries of Africa. It delights especially in 

 places covered with bushes. This bird, he says, never changes place without laughing 

 afterwards, and on this account has received the specific name, risoria. Its laugh and its 

 hou-hou make known its place of retreat. Its flesh broiled is quite dry. 



"Taking these facts in connection with the domestic state in which this pigeon is found 

 everywhere else, we may assume that the species is native to Africa, and consider the bird 

 described by Brisson, under the name Tourterelle a Collier du Senegal,^'' as well as that 

 described by Le Vaillant, m pi. 268, as the type of our Collared Turtle. 



"Sonnini informs us that he has seen Collared Turtles in Egypt, where the inhabitants 

 are very fond of them, and take special care of them. We do not know whether this author 

 has seen the species at liberty, or reduced to a state of domesticity, as it is with us. 



"As the name 'Collared Dove' would apply to several other species, which have the 

 collar on the back of the neck, we prefer to follow the example of Le Vaillant and adopt 

 the name 'Blond Dove' as the more proper one for this species. 



"Le Vaillant has met with Blond Doves only on the borders of the Great Namaqualand. 

 They are smaller than those we rear in domesticity, but their cooing is absolutely the same. 

 They nest in trees, build a flat nest like those which our Turtles construct, and lay two 

 wholly white eggs. 



"This species measures in length ten and one-half inches; the wings in repose, six inches 

 and three lines. The whole plumage is of a pretty pearl gray, shaded with a delicate pur- 

 plish tint, whitening on the forehead and the lower parts, and taking an isabelline fawn- 

 color on the back and wings. The remiges are dark, bordered with fawn. The feathers of 

 the tail are ashy above, and all, except the two middle ones, tipped with white ; the external 

 one of each side has its outer web white. The upper part of the neck is encircled with a 

 black collar about two lines in width; the bill is blackish, the iris and the feet are red. 



"The female differs little from the male, except that its collar is narrower, and the 

 breast has a clearer color. 



"The male is very fond of his mate; he usually keeps near her, especially during the 

 night, and tries to show her his love through notes that bear some resemblance to a 



' Turtur lurlur. 



' Probably Le Vaillant (see his Introduction, pp. 11-12.) 

 ' Voyages au Japon par le Cap de Bonne Esp^rance, Tom. I, p. 330. 

 '"This bird was Turtur vinaceus according to Salvadori (synonyms), Catalogue of Rirds, XXI, p. 428. 



