THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 
‘The adult Turtle Dove has the head and back of the 
neck lavender-grey, shading into chestnut-brown on the 
upper back, with a strong lavender shade on the lower 
back and rump, and into brown on the upper tail-coverts ; 
the scapulars, innermost secondaries, and some of the 
wing-coverts are pale chestnut, with darker central 
markings; the outer wing-coverts are lavender-grey, the 
secondaries brown washed with grey, the primaries and 
their coverts brown ; all but the central tail-feathers are 
blackish grey tipped with white, the outermost white 
on the outer web, the central pair uniform brown; at 
each side of the neck is a patch of black feathers with 
lavender tips; the breast is lavender-grey with a rosy 
suffusion, shading into white on the abdomen and under 
tail-coverts, and lavender on the flanks. Bull brown ; 
tarsi and toes crimson; irides reddish brown. Length 
tt inches. In the young in first plumage most of the 
feathers have broad rufous margins, and the neck patches 
are absent. ‘The nestling is first clothed in thin, hair- 
like, downy plumes of straw-colour. 
