TYMPANISTRIA TYMPANISTRIA. 571 
not find it abundant till I reached Okamabuti, some miles to the 
north of Omanbondé; from thence to the Okavango River it was 
common. This Dove constructs a nest of a few rough sticks ina 
bush or at the extremity of a bough of some low stunted tree. The 
sticks composing the nest are so loosely put together that a person 
looking at it from below may see the two eggs through the nest. It 
is seldom that more than one egg is hatched. The young are 
usually fledged by the middle of January.” 
General colour above, cinereous-brown ; forehead, light cinereous; 
top of head, lead-coloured ; across the lower part of the back is a 
white stripe, on each side of which is a broad black one; three 
narrow bands of the same colour extend across the tail-coverts, the 
last one being on the tips of the feathers ; on the centre of the wings 
are two or three large spots of brilliant purple and green, while the 
inner webs of the wing-feathers are bright rufous; under plumage, 
vinaceous, lightest on the vent ; under-surface of the tail, and tail- 
coverts, black; the basal half of the outer web of the former, and 
part of the three outer pair of the latter, white. Length, 7h"; 
wing, 4” 5’’; tail, 34”. Some authors have considered that the birds 
with blue and green spots on the wings constitute different species, 
but Captain Shelley thinks that they are only varieties of one form. 
Fig. le Vaillant, Ois. d’Afr. vi. pl. 271. 
554, TYMPANISTRIA TYMPANISTRIA (J'emm.) 
White-breasted Wood Dove. 
Peristera tympanistria, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 262. 
The genus T'ympanistria is closely allied to Chalcopelia, from which 
it differs in having the first primary notched. The present species is 
apparently confined to the forest districts. We found it common at 
the Knysna, and all the wooded portions of the eastern province. But 
though continually heard, it was difficult to procure, as it possesses 
the power of throwing its voice to a distance like a ventriloquist, 
thus deceiving the hunter, who often creeps from the tree on which 
tho bird is actually perched. It is not very common near Hast 
London, according to Mr. Rickard, and Captain Trevelyan says it 
is scarce near Kingwilliamstown. Captain Shelley found it very 
plentiful about Durban in Natal, and Mr. Ayres writes: “ These 
pretty Doves inhabit the bushy country on the coast line, gradually 
becoming rarer as we proceed inland. Their note is a soft and 
