INDIAN RING-DOVE 223 
rare in some districts which would seem suitable for its habitat, and 
common in a few others which appear to be quite the reverse. On the 
whole, this Dove seems to require ample open country, and to dislike 
heavy forests and jungle and, whilst being able to stand in comfort the 
drought and heat of the hottest and most desert places, such as Sind, 
the Deccan, etc., is unable to endure a very heavy rainfall such as 
occurs in the Assam Valley or in the district stretching from Cachar 
and Sylhet towards Burma. 
It is not a migratory bird in the true sense of the term, but moves 
about locally, according to the seasons and the food-supply obtainable, 
probably wandering a good deal further east during the cold weather 
and dry season than in the rains. 
Vertically it moves upwards with the advent of the hot months, 
being found up to at least 8,000 ft. in the western Himalayas, probably 
a good deal higher, and in October it returns to the lower hills and 
plains. Ward speaks of it as common in Kashmir, but does not say 
up to what height it is found, nor unfortunately do Colonel Wilson, 
Davidson, and others who have so industriously worked this State. 
In its habitat and haunts the Indian Ring-Dove is almost as con- 
fiding and tame as the Spotted Dove and Little Brown Dove, and it 
may be seen feeding round about the villages in any open patch of 
cultivation, whilst it constantly enters the compounds and gardens of 
the European houses. It runs about the ground much in the same 
way as do the Doves just referred to; perhaps they are not quite so 
tame as those Doves are, and perhaps also they are not quite so ex- 
clusively ground-birds. Besides resting on trees during the heat of the 
day and roosting thereon at night, they perch a good deal at odd times, 
and occasionally feed on fruit-trees. 
Their diet is, of course, principally grain and seed, which they 
obtain from the cultivated country and grass-land, but they are also 
fruit-eaters when necessity compels. 
In Turkestan, Afghanistan, etc., it appears to be quite as fond 
of the vicinity of human habitation as it is in India. Scully writes 
of it in Turkestan: “ It is always to be found near villages and houses : 
perching on trees, or running about on the ground picking up grain 
and seeds. The birds are very tame, and in winter they would come 
right up to the door of my room at Yarkand to be fed. A regular colony 
of these Doves lived about the compound of the Residency at Yarkand. 
