on the Snoiv Pigeon.



175



. . . Feeding in fields in the Wurdwan Valley ; it was met with

in Ledakh on one occasion.” Lieut. W. W. Cordeaux, Ibis, 1S88,

p. 219, says that on April 25th at Zogila Pass, Cashmere, “ Flocks

of the Snow Pigeon were feeding on the patches of vegetation

from which the snow had melted.” While Davidson writes in

Ibis , 1898, p. 38, “This beautiful Pigeon was very common in the

beginning of May on the Sonamurg plateau (Cashmere), and

occasionally among the cultivation along the Sind River as far

down as Kulan. It was then in small flocks. During June we

saw it occasionally at Sonamurg, singly or in very small flocks.

It seemed generally to fly to and from a ridge of rocks not far

from the nullah joining the Sind River close to the village of

Sonamurg.” Blandford, “Fauna of British India,” Birds, IV.

p. 32, observes: “This Pigeon, in summer at all events, is

usually to be seen in flocks about rocky hill sides. I found it

irregularly distributed in Upper Sikkim, common in places,

rare in others at the same elevation. I never heard its call,

nor apparently has any other observer, and its unification

appears not to have been noticed, except that Lieut. Cordeaux

says that he found it breeding among inaccessible crags in the

Ai Nullah, Cashmere, in August.” I conclude my quotations

with two that deal with the bird in captivity. Scully, Stray

Feathers, VIII. p. 340, remarks: “This Pigeon is found in the

upper northern regions of Nepal, but never occurs in the Nepal

Valley. I kept a specimen in confinement for several months ;

it was very tame and not at all active. It never attempted to

perch, but remained on the ground, generally in a corner of the

room. When approached by Pheasants or other birds kept with

it in the aviary it uttered the purring coo common to all pigeons,

and used to strike at the birds with its wing when they came too

near.” Lastly, our member Mr. Finn, writing on the Cage-Birds

of Calcutta, Ibis, 1901, p. 443, makes the following observations:

“ Before leaving the Pigeons, I ought to record the curious fact

that the Alpine Columba leuconota, which Mr. Rutledge sometimes

obtains, bears the heat perfectly well, and even shows a desire to

breed. As its note has apparently not been recorded, I may

mention that it is not a coo, but a repeated croak, not unlike a

hiccough, and, much as the bird resembles the domestic Pigeon,



