242 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 
way. In the first place they are so tame that anyone can get near 
enough for a shot, and secondly their flight is slow when they first 
take to wing, and their plumage does not resist shot like that of the 
Green Pigeon, so that they do not carry away or resist shot as the latter 
birds do. Nor when killed are they of much use, unless wanted for a 
museum, as their flesh is generally very hard and dry, and only palatable 
when made into stew with claret and vegetables. 
The male bird has a curious habit during the breeding-season, 
not uncommon amongst members of the family, of perching on the top- 
most twig of some tree and then launching itself high into the air with 
vigorous clappings of its wings until it has risen some 50 ft. or so, when 
it spreads its wings out straight, puffs out its feathers, especially the 
long spiny ones of the rump, and sails slowly down in a spiral to its 
former perch. There it rests a few moments, booming at intervals 
of two or three seconds, and then once more parades in the air before 
its lady-love. At these times it is a very noisy bird and, where it is 
common, its deep call may be heard resounding in every direction, but, 
at times other than the breeding-season, it is very silent. 
This bird is not gregarious in its habits, but where one is met the 
pair to it will assuredly not be far off, for the male and female seem 
to mate for life, and will be found together in breeding and non-breeding 
season alike. 
When shooting Jungle-fowl, Doves, etc., in the mustard-clearings 
in North Cachar, I almost invariably put up great numbers of these 
birds, and out of small patches, perhaps fifty yards wide by less than 
half a mile long, must often have disturbed over a hundred Cuckoo- 
Doves. These mustard-fields are generally clearings made along the 
banks of some hill-stream and, more often than not, have dense forest 
on all three of the other boundaries away from the stream, so that they 
form favourite resorts for all kinds of game, from Doves to Hornbills, 
and from squirrels to buffaloes and elephants, whilst the mustard, 
when full grown, provides cover so high and dense that even big deer 
can lie close in it without being detected. Out of cover of this des- 
cription the Cuckoo-Doves flush in quick succession a few paces in front 
of one, rising straight up until they are six to ten feet in the air and 
then sailing away quite slowly to a distant part of the clearing, or to 
some tree upon which they sit until the intruder has passed by. Of 
