SPOTTED DOVE 207 
Turumpti (Falco chiquera), by the Fish-Eagles (Poliaetus ichthyaetus and 
humilis), and also in a bush under a tree in which a family of young Black- 
winged Kites (Hlanus coeruleus) were being brought up. 
Whatever this law may be, however, it is not obeyed by the Crow, who 
is a law unto himself, or the Magpie (Dendrocitta)—an outcast amongst birds 
and a destroyer of all life feebler than himself, and one of the worst egg- 
thieves in India. 
The eggs are, of course, only two in number although, long ago, Tickell 
recorded them as numbering “two to six.” Equally of course they are 
pure white and the normal Dove-shaped oval. 
Oates, in Hume’s Nests and Eggs, gives the average of thirty-three 
eggs as being 1.06 by .82 in. ( = 26.9 by 20.8 mm.), the extremes in length 
as .95 and 1.17 in. ( = 24.1 and 29.7 mm.), and in breadth .75 and .95 in. 
(= 19.0 and 24.1 mm.). 
Mr. C. R. 8. Pitman sends me the measurements of a large series which 
averaged the same as Oates’s in length but measures .85 in. in breadth 
(= 21.6 mm.). His extreme measurements are, however, well within 
those given by Oates. A hundred eggs measured by myself give the same 
average in size as given by Mr. Pitman and does not extend the maximum 
or minimum given by Oates. 
The Spotted Dove is one of the most familiar and widespread of 
birds in India over all but the most bare and desert portions, such as 
parts of the Deccan and Sind. It is a bird that is very intolerant of 
thirst, so that a plentiful supply of water is an absolute necessity, and, 
given this, it will be found practically everywhere, plains and hills alike, 
at any rate up to some 8,000 ft. Where water is plentiful there also 
will be found trees and vegetation in sufficiency, for the Spotted Dove 
does not require heavy forest in which to hide, and though it does not 
shun the vicinity of such, it will be met with more frequently in 
cultivated country, especially if this be well supplied with groves 
and trees. 
If not persecuted it is a most confiding little bird, and will run 
about on the ground close to human beings without taking fright. It is 
much given to haunting roads and village-paths, and one can hardly 
travel many hundred yards along such without coming across one or 
more pairs searching for grain in the droppings and dust. They are 
nearly always in pairs and, though the two birds may keep some little 
distance apart, their constant sweet ‘‘ coos” are uttered and answered 
every few minutes ; and when they do fly away it is always together, 
the nearest tree generally offering them a convenient perch where 
they can sit side by side until the interloper has passed and they can 
once more return to their quest for food. Their “coo” is a very soft 
melodious tone, difficult to set forth in writing, but which Blyth has 
