4 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 
and the following key to our Indian subfamilies will be easier to work 
by in the field :— 
A. Tail of fourteen feathers : 
a. Plumage principally green, with one or two con- 
spicuous yellow bands on the wings; wings 
always over 5 in. and always under 8.5 in. ; 
soles of feet and toes considerably broadened ... Treroninae. 
b. Plumage dull, and greyish all over; wings 
always under 5 in.; soles of feet not much 
broadened ... bee sie ef ane ; 
c. Plumage various, but size large and wings always 
over 8.5 in.; soles of feet not much broadened Carpophaginae. 
Geopeliinae. 
B. Tail of twelve feathers : 
d. Long metallic green neck-hackles __... che ...( Calaenadinae. 
e. No neck-hackles : 
a’ Plumage above dark and metallic-green ; bill 
red ; wings under 6 in. ee a et Phabinae. 
b’ Plumage sometimes glossy and to some extent 
metallic about neck, but in such cases the 
wing is over 8 in. The other genera have 
dull plumage with no gloss anywhere __... Columbinae. 
Susramity TRERONINAE. 
This subfamily is very well represented in India, no less than five 
out of its seven genera being found within our limits. All five of these 
cenera contain what are generally known in India as “‘ Green Pigeons ”— 
gomparatively small Pigeons which may be known at a glance by their 
beautifully soft green plumage, often mixed with maroon or lilac on the 
shoulders or back, and always with one, and sometimes with two, bold 
yellow bars across the wings. By ear, too, these lovely birds may always 
be identified as belonging to the Treroninae, their musical whistling-call 
being quite unlike the coo of any Dove or Pigeon of other groups. 
The birds of this subfamily are typically perchers, living almost 
entirely on the fruit of large trees, and they have the soles of their 
feet curiously broad, being a great deal wider than the toes above. The 
tarsi are short and stout, and are covered with densly growing short 
feathers on the upper part in front. 
The genera, which again are to a great extent employed as a matter 
