SupramMity COLUMBINAE. 
In his family Columbidae Salvadori includes but three subfamilies 
—Columbinae, Macropygiinae, and Ectopistinae. The last of these three 
has no representative in Asia, and consists of a single genus and species— 
Ectopistes migratorius, the Passenger-Pigeon of North America. 
Of the other two subfamilies, the Macropygiinae will be dealt with 
in detail later on. Here it will suffice to say that, agreeing with Blanford 
that the birds of the genus are nearer the true Doves than the Pigeons, 
I place them after these latter birds in order of classification, though 
uniting them all under the one subfamily Colwmbinae together with 
the former. 
The difference between the Pigeons and Doves of this group are, 
as pointed out by Blanford, only superficial, and there are no 
structural characteristics by which they can be divided : they all have 
twelve tail-feathers, and all have the ambiens muscle, intestinal caeca, 
and oil-gland. 
The feet and legs are more adapted for walking about on the earth 
than are the arboreal Pigeons hitherto dealt with, but there is a 
considerable amount of difference in this respect between the various 
genera of the Columbinae, some being far more terrestrial in their habits 
than others. 
The subfamily, according to the classification adopted, contains 
seven genera of Pigeons and Doves. The former includes the genera 
Columba (Rock-Pigeons), Dendrotreron, Palumbus, and Alsocomus 
(Wood-Pigeons), and the latter includes Streptopelia and Oenopopelia 
(True Doves) and Macropygia (Cuckoo-Doves). 
Blanford’s key to the genera of this subfamily, given in the 
Avifauna of British India, is very simple, and founded on characteristics 
very easy for the sportsman and field-naturalist to follow, and I 
therefore adopt it as it stands. 
ao 
