THE PIGEONS. 179 
The hen is very similar, but can easily be distinguished , 
having the brown parts of the plumage less rich in 
colour, no grey cap, and the forehead and eyebrows grey 
instead of white. 
The young are very different from either, being mostly 
dull brown above, barred with cinnamon, and with dusky 
below ; but their characteristic shape, with this marking, 
will distinguish them. In length the bird measures only 
a little over ten inches, but is stout for its size, and about 
as big in body as the Spotted Dove. 
It has a very wide range, from Mussoorie east through 
Burma and the Malay Islands to New Guinea, but is 
decidedly local in India itself, being found only in the 
lower Himalayas, Bengal, the forests near the Malabar 
Coast, and those between the Ganges and the Maha- 
nuddy. It likewise inhabits the Andamans and Nico- 
bars, and Ceylon, where it is called Nila Kobeya. It is 
a jungle bird, but sometimes comes into gardens. 
I have only seen it wild in Dehra Dun, and have noticed 
there what authors have recorded of it—its solitary habits 
and low swift flight. It has a soft, long, plaintive 
note, said to be very soothing to one ruffled in his temper. 
Unfortunately the bird’s own temper, as might be infer- 
red from its unsociable ways, is anything but good, and 
in captivity it is given to bullying other Doves. For a 
good-sized aviary, however, it is a very nice bird. As it 
is a ground-dweller and active on its feet, its beautiful 
colours are well displayed, and the difference of the sexes 
is another recommendation. In the wild state it breeds 
during the first half of the year, and is thought to have 
