344 columbidjE. 



Order COLUMBiE. 



Family COLUMBIU^. 



Subfamily COLUMBINiE. 



Coliimba intermedia, Strickl. The Indian Blue Boclc-Phjeon. 



Coluniba intermedia, Strickl., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 469 ; Hume, Rourfh 

 Draft N. S,- E. no. 788. 



Our Indian Blue Rock-Pigeons breed freely, as far as I bave 

 been able to ascertain, tbrougbout India proper, alike in bills and 

 plains, tbougli many of tbe Himalayan and Hubman Range birds 

 are intermediate between G. intermedia and G. livia, and a few 

 may be considered typical sj^ecimens of the latter. Into Assam, 

 Cacliar, and Burma I am not aware tbat it extends, but these 

 localities bave been as yet too little worked to enable me to speak 

 with certainty to tbe fact. 



Tbe breeding-season in U])per India lasts from Christmas to 

 May-day. Tbe nest is chiefly composed of thin sticks and twigs, 

 but are often more or less lined with leaves of the tamarisk, 

 feathers, &c. As to situation I can quite endorse Dr. Jerdon's 

 account. He says : — " They are most partial to large buildiugs, 

 such as churches, pagodas, mosques, tombs, and the like, frequently 

 entering verandahs of inhabited houses and building in the cornices. 

 Holes in walls of cities or towns, too, are favourite places, and in 

 some parts of the country they prefer holes in wells, especially, I 

 think, in tbe west of India, tjie Deccan, &c. In default of such 

 spots they will breed in crevices and cavities of rocks, caverns, and 

 sea-side cblfs ; and I have often noticed that they are particularly 

 partial to rocky cliffs by waterfalls. Tbe celebrated falls of Gair- 

 soppa are tenanted by thousands of Blue Pigeons, which here 

 associate with the large Alpine Swift." 



Where not disturbed they breed in incredible multitudes. At 

 tbe grand old fort of Deig in Bhurtpoor, where, as in most parts 

 of Eajpootana, they are sacred, and even a European who molested 

 them would risk his life, several hundred thousand pairs must live 

 and breed. A gun fired in the moat to^^ards evening raises a 

 dense cloud, obscuring utterly tbe ^^•aning day and deafening one 

 with the mighty rushing sound of countless strong and rapidly- 

 plied pinions. Here for the first time I realized what the flights 

 of Ectojiistes onirjratorius in North America might be like. 



