PALUMBUS. 



25 



33. VSilwmbUS CSiSiotiS, Bond/)., /c. Pig. t. 58; Jerdon, Birds of 

 hid. iii. p. 464, No. 784 ; Murray^ Hdbk., ZooL, t^r., Sind, p. 193; Murray, 

 Avif. Brit. Ind. ii. p. 506, No. 1157. — The Himalayan Cushat. 



Palunibus casiotif.. 



Head, lores, sides of the face, chin and throat bluish ashy ; nape, hind neck 

 and sides of the neck glossed green and purple, the latter predominating on the 

 upper back and sides of the breast ; neck patch on each side pure fulvous or 

 yellowish clay; scapulars and tertials dusky or hair brown, lighter on the latter; 

 breast dull lilac or ruddy vinaceous, paling on the upper abdomen to a vinous 

 ash ; lower abdomen, vent and under tail coverts ashy white ; rump bluish ash ; 

 primaries and their coverts dusk}', nearly dark brown; the primaries and some 

 of their hindmost coverts margined with white on their exterior web ; second- 

 aries bluish ash, the tips dusky ; wing coverts dark ashy ; the lower series 

 white on their outer web, and forming a longitudinal patch ; winglet dark 

 brown ; tail dark ashy grey at the base, followed by a broad light ashy grey 

 band, and a broad black tip; the under surface much darker, and the 

 central band nearly white ; bill orange at the tip, whitish at the base ; 

 legs red. 



Length. — 17 inches ; wing I0'25 to lO'S ; tail 7. 



Hah. — This, the largest of the pigeon tribe, is found in Nepaul, N.-W. 

 Himalayas, Sind, Punjab, Persia, Beloochistan, and S. Afghanistan. Found 

 in Sind on the frontier only, at Jacobabad. Breeds as far as has yet been 

 ascertained only in the extreme N.-W. Himalayas, and Hume adds, perhaps 

 also in the higher fir forests below the snow range in the Western Himalayas. 

 They remain about Simla, Almorah and Mussoorie from November to April, 

 and then are found in forests between the Jumna and the Ganges. Like all 



