' 
COLUMBA PHHONOTA. 509 
procured on the Umvuli River in August and September, and Mr. 
Ayres observes :—“ It is plentiful at the Umvuli at this season, 
feeding on the wild fruit which the Boers call the ‘ Moople ;’ the tree 
is a handsome, dense, dark-foliaged one, and grows here and there all 
along the banks of the river. There is also a wild fig-tree in full 
bearing with an insipid fruit of the size of a walnut, which the birds 
are very fond of. After leaving Rustenburg we did not meet with 
this bird until we arrived at the Umvuli.” 
Like 7. wakefieldii this species has the tail of the same colour as 
the back, and the following description is given by Captain Shelley. 
Very similar to T. calva and T. wakefieldii, but differs from them 
both in the more ashy olive shade of the head, neck and breast; the 
feathers extend further on the forehead; the vinous patch on the 
wings is generally paler and more ashy ; the remainder of the wing 
is similar, excepting that the olive parts, as well as the back and tail, 
are yellower; tail olive-yellow as in 7. wakefieldii, with the broad 
terminal band paler but not so strongly marked ; “iris of a beautiful 
pale blue; bill very light bluish ashy at the tip, with the basal portion 
bright orange” (7. Ayres). Total length, 10inches; culmen from 
frontal feathers, 0°9; wing, 6°65; tail, 4°1; tarsus, 0°95. The wing 
varies, according to Captain Shelley, from 6-2 to 6°8 inches. 
Fig. Bp. Icon. Columb. pl. 1. 
Sus-ram. Cotumpine (Tail with twelve feathers). 
Captain Shelley divides this sub-family into ten genera, of which 
eight are represented in South Africa. We shall under the heading 
of the various species enumerate the points by which the above- 
named author distinguishes these genera. 
544. Conumpa pHmonota, Gray. South African Speckled Pigeon. 
Columba guinee, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 256. 
In the genus Columba the wing is longer than the tail, the latter 
not being two-thirds of the wing in length, and the distance between 
the tip of the secondaries and the tip of the wing is more than half 
the length of the tail; the fourth primary never longer than any of 
the outer three; tarsus naked. The members of this genus nest in 
holes. The present species represents in South Africa the well- 
known Columba guinew of the northern part of the continent, from 
