CEYLON PIGEONS AND GAME BIRDS. 397 
Bill red ; iris dark brown ; legs coral-red. 
Length 10°5; wing 5°6; tail 8°75; tarsus 1; bill from 
gape °9. 
Distribution —Found almost all over the Island wherever 
there are forests. In India it occurs in most forest districts 
with sufficient rainfall. Common throughout Burma, and 
extends through South-eastern Asia to New Guinea and the 
Philippines. 
Habits —Essentially a bird of the forest ; it feeds largely on 
the ground, and may often be seen on roads and paths through 
the jungle, picking up any grain which has been spilled at 
wayside halts. In the low-country it is also very fond of the 
little open spaces made in the jungle by the outcrops of bare 
slab rock, coming to drink from the water-holes in the crevices. 
The call is a soft deep “ hoo.” The flight is low and swift. 
There are probably several broods during the year, and the 
nest. may be looked for at any time from February to June: 
it is a more compact structure than that of most Pigeons, 
placed in a tall bush or low tree from 5 to 10 feet above the 
eround. 
The two eggs are not white, but buff or cream-coloured, and 
their average size is about 1°05 by °83. 
Sub-family Columbine. 
Rock Pigeons, Wood Pigeons, and Doves. 
This sub-family includes the typical Pigeons and Doves, of 
which seven species are found in Ceylon. These seven species 
are distributed amongst four genera, which vary considerably 
in size and colour of plumage—-superficial distinctions without 
any correspondingly important structural differences. In the 
Rock Pigeons—genus Columba—the plumage is mainly gray 
with some metallic lustre about the neck ; the wings are fairly 
long and pointed, the tail is short, the tarsus is not feathered, 
and the feet are formed for walking, with slender toes and 
narrow soles.’ The Indian Wood Pigeons—genus Alsocomus— 
have a dark plumage, the greater part of it lustred with a 
changeable metallic sheen. In habits they approach the 
Imperial Pigeons, being arboreal and fruit eaters. The Turtle 
