354 COLUMBID^. 



and valleys, where also a good manj'^ are penuaneut residents. In 

 dry tracts, such as Ca\Aupoor, Etawah, and Agra, they are but 

 rarely seen, and still more rarely found breeding (though I did 

 once find a nest in Etawah), while at Eareilly, Bijuour, and Sliali- 

 jehanpoor they are the conunouest Dove, so common that I have 

 taken a dozen nests at the first-named station in a morning. The 

 nests are slight and loosely put together, of thin tx^igs, with a few 

 roots or a little grass, and are placed as a rule in any shrub or low 

 tree, apparently quite at haphazard,, but usually at no great height 

 from the ground, and Aery often \\ithin reach of a man's hand. 

 Occasionally a nest will be found in ruined buildings or in some 

 wide open cavity in a tree, but never much overshadowed. The 

 birds seem to like light and air greatly, and in most cases affect no 

 sort of concealment, but build their nests in the most open and 

 visible situations, and stick to them most fearlessly until absolutely 

 forced to leave. 



They lay invariably, so far as my experience goes, two eggs, and 

 have always two, and often, I believe, several broods during the 

 year, and these too, if not disturbed, in the same nest. 



Captain Unwin remarks : — " I took a nest of this species, cou- 

 taining two fresh eggs, on the 29th April, in the Agrore Valley, 

 shooting the male as he fiew off the nest. This was placed about 

 three feet from the ground in a thick tangled bush which overhung 

 a watercourse." 



From Murree, Colonel C. H. T. Marshall tells us that the 

 Spotted Dove breeds in the surrounding hills, as well as in the 

 plains below. 



Prom Mussoorie, Captain Hutton writes that this species is 

 " abundant in the Dhoon, and arrives in the hills in the end of 

 March, leaving again in the autumn. It breeds at about 5000 feet, 

 and lays two white eggs. Captain Tickell says: — 'Eggs two to 

 six' ; 1 have never seen more tliau two in any nest."' 



AVriting from Kumaon, Mr. I{. Thompson remarks : — " The 

 ►Spotted Dove is the most common and abundant of the family in 

 the Lower Himalayas, remaining in the lower hills throughout the 

 winter, and is a hardy, easily domesticated bird. I have had some 

 which have li\ed in captivity for years, and e\en bred in a large 

 cage. 



" The nest is composed of from about fifty to one hundred and 

 fifty small twigs and roots laid loosely together, that portion of a 

 bush or tree being selected for the purpose Avhich Mill give the 

 broadest foundation, no matter whether it be the intertwining of 

 many slender branches or a hollow in a thicker one. 



" The breeding-seasoji commences as early as February in the 

 warmer valleys, and continues to the end of October. Two or 

 even more broods are reared during the season. 



"The eggs are pure white and two in number, and nearly ])er- 

 fectly oval. The young remain in the nest till able to tly, when 

 they come out ancl perch in the branches, but are easily frightened 

 out of the nesting-tree on the approach of a person, and not being 



