230 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 
and centre of the throat albescent, remainder of lower-plumage to the vent 
vinous-red ; vent, and feathers of tibia white, tinged with vinous, and under 
tail-coverts nearly pure white; under wing-coverts, axillaries, and flanks 
very pale grey, the latter often being pure white; under aspect of the tail 
black at the base, pure white on the terminal third. ’ 
Measurements. Length about 9 in. (= 228.6 mm.); wing 5.15 
(= 130.8 mm.) to 5.7 in. (= 144.8 mm.), with an average of 5.4 in. 
( = 137.2 mm.) ; tail 3.75 ( = 95.2 mm.) to 4.20 in. ( = 106.7 mm.), generally 
about 4 in. (= 101.6 mm.) ; bill at front .52 in. (= 13.2 mm.), and from 
gape about .75 in. (=19 mm.); tarsus about .7 in. (= 17.8 mm.). 
The bird with a wing measuring 5.7 in. is a specimen from Nepal 
where the birds are intermediate between tranquebarica and humilis. 
Colours of soft parts. Trides hazel-brown to dark brown; edge of eye- 
lid plumbeous ; bill black, rather leaden on the cere and gape ; legs dull red, 
dull purplish-red, or brownish-lake ; claws black. 
Female. The grey of the head and the vinous-red on the upper-parts 
of the male are replaced by pale earthy-brown, generally paler on the head, 
which is often more or less tinged with grey ; rump and tail as in the male ; 
chin and centre of throat albescent, lower-throat and breast light earthy- 
brown, paler than the back and generally with a certain amount of vinous- 
red suffused over it ; abdomen paler, and under tail-coverts and vent white ; 
wing-coverts the same colour as the back, the outer lesser and median 
coverts often much more grey, rarely a pure grey; quills as in the male, 
except innermost secondaries, which are the same colour as the back. 
The black collar on the female is sometimes edged above with grey. 
Measurements. The female is slightly smaller than the male on an 
average : the wing runs from 4.80 in. ( = 122 mm.) to 5.35 in. ( = 135.3 mm.) 
with an average of 5.15 in. (= 130.7 mm.), and the other measurements 
vary correspondingly. 
Colours of soft parts as in the male. 
Young in first plumage resemble the female, but the feathers of the 
upper-plumage, wing-coverts, and breast are narrowly edged with very pale 
fulvous, scarcely noticeable on the breast and most distinct on the scapulars. 
The iris is a pale dull brown. 
Young male after autwmn-moult assumes in part the plumage of the 
adult, the black colour of the collar appears in a patch on either side of 
the neck, the breast becomes more distinctly vinous-red, and the same 
colour appears in patches on the wing-coverts, scapulars, and upper-back ; 
the grey head is one of the last characteristics to be developed, and at this 
stage of the plumage the innermost-secondaries and outer-coverts are tipped 
pale and subtipped with a bar of blackish-brown. 
Nesiling, in down, is yellowish-white, the upper-parts darker than the 
lower and rather buff in tint. 
Distribution. Practically throughout India from the extreme west in 
Sind and the North-west Provinces, as far east as Bengal and Behar in the 
plains, and the west of Nepal in the hills. In the south of India it is rare in 
the wet, forested portions of Malabar and Travancore, but extends to the 
drier area in the latter country. Throughout south-east India it is found 
as far north as Orissa, being rare in the forested portions of that province. 
In Bengal it is common in the west, rare in the east, and in Assam and the 
