34 COLUMBID^, 



under wing coverts dark ashy. Bill black ; irides dark brown with a white 

 inner circle ; legs lake red. 



Length. — lO'S ; wing 5 ; tail 4-5. 



EuL. — Nearly throughout India, Sind, Kutch, Rajputana, Deccan, Concan, 

 Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, Southern India generally, Beloochistan, Persia and 

 Afghanistan. In Central and Western India specially abundant. Breeds all 

 over the plains of India during March and April. During the scarcity of 

 mutton in the plains of INIach in Beloochistan in the last Kandahar campaign, 

 this little Dove, Turlur risorius Q^o. 1173) ^^'^ Columha livia et intermedia 

 formed the only flesh food (with now and again a Porcupine) of the Com- 

 missariat and Transport European staffs. 



47. Turtur suratensis, Gm., Tem. Pig. t. 43; ^erd., B. Ltd. 

 ii. p. 479, No. 795; Str. F. v. pp. 231, 409; Gra/^', Handlist No. 93 IS 5 

 Murray, Hdbli., ZooL, &f., Sitid, p. 194 ; id., Vert. Zool. Sind, p. 203 ; 

 Murray, Avif, Brit. Ind. ii. p. 514, No. 1171. — The Spotted Dove. 



Forehead greyish white ; crown, nape, breast and upper abdomen pale 

 vinaceous, darker on the breast, paling on the lower abdomen and flanks, and 

 albescent on the under tail coverts ; chin and throat white ; patch on the neck 

 black with narrow rufous tips ; back and scapulars isabelline brown, or rufous 

 brown, the feathers with dark shaft-stripes, broadening into a nearly triangular 

 spot at the tip, on each side of which, especially on the scapulars and wing 

 coverts, is a pale rufous or vinaceous spot ; in some specimens scarcely a spot, 

 but with this colour edging the feathers ; edge of the wing, and the lower series 

 of wing coverts near it greyish white, with faint dark shaft-stripes ; primaries 

 and secondaries dusky brown, the first three quills, and some of the seconda- 

 ries edged with pale or greyish white ; primary coverts dark brown ; tail with 

 the central feathers brown, the outermost black at the base, and tipped white 

 for the terminal half, and the others with the white tips decreasing in extent; 

 bill blackish ; irides hazel, surrounded by a reddish sclerotic membrane ; legs 

 reddish. 



Length.— \2 inches ; wing 5*5 to 5*75 ; tail 5-5, graduated. 



Hab. — Throughout India nearly, to Ceylon and the Himalayas. Replaces 

 the last on the Malabar Coast and in Lower Bengal. Jerdon says it is rare in 

 the bare Carnatic land, the Deccan, and N.-W. Provinces. Uncommon in 

 Upper Sind, but less so in Lower Sind. Breeds in April and May. It occurs, 

 but less abundantly, in Rajputana and N. Guzerat. 



48. Turtur tigrinus {Tcmi), Hume, Nests and Eggs Ind. B. p. 506; 

 id., Str. F. i. p. 461 ; iii. p. 164 ; Blyth, B. Burju. p. 145 ; Arjnstrong, 

 Str. F. iv. p. 337 ; Oaies, Str. F v. p. 164 ; Anders., Yunnan Exped. p. 665 ; 

 Hume ajid Dav., Str F. vi. p. 422; Hume, Str. F. viii. p. iio; Bingham, 

 Str. F. ix. p. 194; Oatcs, Str. F. x. p. 23S ; id., B. Br. Burm. ii. p. 290 ; 



