BIRDS OF EGYPT. 213 



and by far the most abundant, has a slate-coloured rump, and 

 belongs to the present species. Von HeugHn (Orn. N. O. 

 Afr. p. 828) does not admit the specific distinctness of these 

 two races, and considers them all to belong to C. livia, which 

 is, in my opinion, an error. Mr. E. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1867, 

 p. 66), on the other hand, includes all the Pigeons under the 

 name C. Schimperi, with the following observations : — 

 " Flocks of Pigeons, perfectly wild, frequent the precipitous 

 rocks that here and there border the Nile. I have frequently 

 shot examples of them, and have always found them to 

 possess the characteristics of Columha Schimperi, being de- 

 cidedly and conspicuously distinguishable from C. livia by 

 the absence of the white rump which forms so marked a 

 feature in that species." I have certainly shot Pigeons both 

 with and without the white rump ; the former must un- 

 doubtedly be C. livia, and the latter, which on many occa- 

 sions had the strongest claims to be considered pure-bred 

 wild birds, I refer to the present species, C. Schimperi, as 

 they were certainly not C. o&nas, a bird of whose capture in 

 Egypt I entertain very strong doubts. 



207. CoLUMBA CENAS, Linn. Stock-Dove. 



Von Heuglin (Orn. N. O. Afr. p. 828) observes that there 

 is a specimen in the Berlin Museum considered to be 

 Egyptian ; but he doubts the occurrence of this species in 

 the country, and believes that the uncoloured plate in the 

 ' Description de I'Egypte,' though named C. cenas, may be 

 referred to C. livia. 



General colour of the plumage slaty grey, a patch on the 



