THE TURTLE-DOVE PATTERN IN THE PHYLOGENY OF PIGEONS. 



87 



very hearty eaters, fairly stuffing themselves. 37 Knowing the similarity in behavior 

 of these two forms, one would hardly need other evidence of their close affinity. 



In the adult inca-dove all of the feathers, except the pale forehead and throat, 

 are tipped with a crescentic blackish bar (pi. 34, fig. A). This crescentic bar is 

 weakest in the breast region — the region in which it has disappeared more or less 

 completely in the various species of Geopelia. A detailed consideration of the wing 

 coloration is given in connection with plate 35 (fig. A). Of particular interest are 

 the blackish streaks found on some of the long coverts and upper tertials. The 

 female, better than the male, shows a residuum of the turtle-dove pattern and 

 shows also a tendency in this species toward a duplication of transverse bars at 

 the feather's tip (pi. 36, figs. 1 to 9). The extent of this duplication is greatly 

 increased in some of the (derived) geopelias. The feathers of the neck region are 

 but little differentiated in these doves (pi. 34, fig. B). 



Text-figure 17. — Adult Mange's dove, Geopelia maugei. 

 Toda del., after Knip, Temminck and Knip, Les 

 Pigeons, pi. in, p. 115, 1808-1813. x 0.5. 



According to original drawing by Madame Knip, the 

 head is not marked by crescentic tips, but the body and 

 wings are so marked. This species stands below G. 

 striata in that the crescents have not begun to disappear 

 on the underside. Salvadori (p. 461) says: "Neck, breast, 

 and sides with numerous narrow black and white bands; 

 on the hind neck the light bands are grayish; back and 

 upper wing-coverts grayish brown, each feather edged 

 with black at the end. Abdomen and under tail-coverts 

 white." 



■^x^v 



The juvenal feathers afford instructive comparisons with the geopelias. In 

 juvenal geopelias the feathers are edged with a light yellow. In inca they are edged 

 with black in most cases on the wing (pi. 34, fig. C). On some of scapulars (pi. 34, 

 fig. D) and on the anterior lesser wing-coverts the edge is pale yellow, but very narrow 

 and obsolescent — i.e., the edge of the feather looks rudimentary; the yellow edge is 

 skipped in most cases, but comes to meager development only in these few parts. 



The inca-dove, then, seems to get nearer the adult condition in the first feathers 

 than does Geopelia. There are good reasons for considering Scardafella inca the 

 older type, and as such it has shortened up its developmental history. 



The scaled dove (Scardafella squamosa) is similar in shape and size to inca, but 

 the crescents are a little stronger in squamosa. In this species the uniformity of 

 coloration is broken by the appearance of white in the lower half of the feathers 



37 1 have studied individuals from Guaymas, Luna, and Chihuahua, Mexico. 



