232 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



Turtur auritus, Locke, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 114 (1867). 



Turtur vulgaris, Kocnhj, J.f. 0. 1888, p. 253 ; id. J.f. 0. 1893, p. 70. 



Turtur communis, Whitaker, 1895, p. 105. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from Ghardimaou, North Tunisia. 



Head, nape, and neck bluish-grey, the sides of the neck conspicuously 

 marked with four bands of black feathers, tipped with white ; mantle and 

 back dull brown, slightly spotted with black ; scapulars, inner secondaries, 

 and inner upper wing-coverts bright cinnamon, with black centres to the 

 feathers ; outer upper wing-coverts and outer secondaries bluish-grey ; 

 primaries brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts slate, tinged with brown ; 

 the two central rectrices brown, the remainder dark slate, broadly tipped 

 with white, and the outermost feather on each side with its outer web 

 white; throat, sides of neck and breast rosy-vinous; centre of abdomen and 

 under tail-coverts white. 



Iris hazel ; bill brown ; feet coral-red. 



Total length 10-50 inches, wing 6'50, culmen -75, tarsus '80. 



Adult female, similar to the male but rather smaller. 



The Turtle-Dove is abundant in Tunisia as a summer migrant, 

 arriving in spring and leaving again in the autumn. A considerable 

 number of the birds breed in the Eegency, not only north of the Atlas, 

 but also south of those mountains and in the oases. 



The species is equally abundant in Algeria and Marocco as a 

 summer migrant, and I have also examples of it from Tripoli, obtained 

 from inland districts towards the end of May, when presumably the 

 birds were nesting. The Turtle-Dove chiefly frequents wooded locali- 

 ties near cultivated land, where its food is plentiful, this consisting 

 mainly of grain, and seeds of various kinds. The extensive olive- 

 groves, common in many parts of the Eegency, are favourite haunts 

 of the species, and when on migration, the bird may be met with in 

 such localities in vast numbers. The same is the case in Sicily, where 

 on certain days in April and May, when the wind is favourable for 

 their passage, considerable numbers of doves are shot by the local 

 " cacciatori " in the olive-groves and among the Carob-trees common 

 in some parts. 



The species in spring generally travels either singly or in pairs, 

 but in autumn it may be found in small companies. Its flight is 

 swift and capable of being long sustained, while on the ground it 

 walks with ease. Its note is a low plaintive " coo." The nest of this 

 species is a frail structure of twigs placed in a bush or low tree, and 



