INDIAN RING-DOVE 221 
as the bird’s habitat, and finally Linnaeus himself simply states “‘ Habitat 
in India.’ 
There cannot, therefore, be the slightest doubt that Linnaeus meant 
the name risoria to be applied to the wild Dove which had the headquarters 
of its habitat in India. 
In the Aviculturist Magazine Newman again refers to the name by which 
this Dove should be known, and after showing why decaocta must be accepted 
for the Balkan bird named by Frivaldsky, proceeds to show that douraca 
must stand for our Indian bird. He does not, however, attempt any reference 
to Aldrovandus, Brisson, and Linnaeus, but merely states as a fact that 
risorsus can only be applied to the domestic form. I cannot, myself, find 
any constant distinguishing characteristics between the east European and 
the Indian bird, but if the former is worthy of separation it will stand as 
Streptopelia risorsa decaocta whilst our bird will remain S. r. risoria. 
Distribution. The Indian Ring-Dove is found practically throughout 
India and Ceylon except in the wettest, most heavily-forested portions of 
the eastern Himalayas, and from parts of the Malabar Coast. It is common 
in eastern Bengal in the open country and is fairly so in western Assam in 
the cultivated plains portion, but becomes much more rare in the extreme 
east and in Cachar and Sylhet. In Chittagong, I think, but am not sure, 
that it is replaced by the Burmese Ring-Dove. The exact dividing line 
between the two subspecies, of which the latter has but recently been 
distinguished, has not yet been definitely settled either in regard to the 
Indian or the Chinese borders. It is quite certain, however, that the Indian 
form does not occur in Burma. 
This bird is probably entirely absent from the greater part of the 
Malabar Coast, as Davidson only once met with it in the extreme east of Kanara, 
and Bourdillon says it is only found in the dry stretch of country near to 
Cape Comorin. In Cachar and to the east of this I think it is but a rare 
straggler; Inglis hardly ever saw it in the plains, and I do not think I saw 
a dozen specimens in the hills in as many years. 
It ascends the Himalayas up to some 8,000 to 9,000 feet, but is not 
resident in the higher hills much over 4,000 ft. Outside Indian limits it 
extends as far as Turkey in Europe and throughout the intervening countries, 
being replaced in Palestine, Egypt, and northern Africa by other subspecies. 
Nidification. The Indian Ring-Dove breeds throughout the year in 
the plains portion and lower hills of its habitat. To mention but one or 
two of its collectors, Inglis says that he has taken its eggs in every month 
of the year except February; Bingham says they breed practically all the 
year round, and Hume took the eggs in every month from December to 
August. In eastern Bengal very few birds breed during the most rainy 
months, July, August, and September, most of them nesting in the two 
or three months immediately preceding and succeeding the rains. 
In the higher hills the breeding-season is considerably curtailed, few 
eggs will be found before April, or after September, and the principal months 
are May and June. Each pair of birds, like most other Doves, are responsible 
for at least two broods a year, and many of them doubtless have four or five. 
As a rule, I think, they generally build a new nest for each brood, but some- 
times they rear two or even more in the old one, merely repairing this 
sufficiently for the time being. 
The nest is the usual Dove’s structure of sticks made into the roughest 
of platforms, with but little or no depression in the centre for the eggs. 
