254 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 
“Length 8.35 to 9.25; expanse 11.75 to 12.62; tail from vent 3.62 to 
4.55 ; wing 3.75 to 4.1; tarsus .75 to .8; bill from gape .7 to .75; weight 2.0 
to 2.25 oz.” (Davison). 
Female. Similar to the male. 
Measurements. The same as in the male, the largest and smallest 
birds in the Museum Collection are both females, the former with a wing 
of 4.1 in. (= 104.1 mm.), and the latter of 3.70 in. (= 92 mm.). 
Hume, it should be noted, makes out the female to average a good bit 
larger than the male: “Length 8.62 to 9.5; expanse 12.25 to 12.62; tail 
from vent 4.0 to 4.45; wing 3.75 to 4.5; tarsus .7 to 1.76; bill from gape 
.65 to .75; weight 1.75 to 1.25 ozs.” 
Colours of soft parts. ‘‘Irides bluish-white; orbital skin pale bluish- 
grey ; bill dull, pale plumbeous ; front of tarsus dull pale purple ; back dirty 
pink’’ (Davison). 
“Tris white ; legs dull purple; bill dull blue ; orbital skin ultramarine” 
(Everett). 
A bird from Java, unsexed but probably a female, has the whole head 
reddish-brown, the fore-head more brightly rufous, and the feathers about 
the vent are broadly splashed with the same. This colour may be due to 
a stain from some fruit getting on to the bill and fore-head and thence to the 
other feathers on the bird preening itself. 
Young. Similar to the adult, but the banding on the sides of the breast 
and flanks is continued quite across the breast and abdomen; the pink 
tint on the former part of the plumage is absent, being replaced by dull 
pale rufous on the pale bars. 
Distribution. This little Ground-Dove is found in the extreme south 
of Tenasserim, whence it ranges south throughout the Malay Peninsula 
and Archipelago, as far east as the Phillipines and the west of New Guinea ; 
it is also found in Siam, but is apparently rare there and was never met with 
by Count Guildenstolpe during his expedition in 1911-12. 
It is not indigenous to, but has been introduced into, Seychelles, 
Madagascar, Mauritius, Round Island, Réunion, and St. Helena, and appears 
to thrive in these various climates. 
Nidification. There is practically nothing on record in regard to 
the nesting of this little Dove. The British Museum Collection contains 
only one egg which is described by Oates as “slightly glossy,” and measures 
.82 by .64 in. (= 20.8 by 16.3 mm.). 
My own collectors in Tenasserim failed to obtain the nest and eggs, but I 
have received the latter from Mr. W. A. T. Kellow, from near Perak, and from 
other collectors in the Malay States. All the eggs in my collection are very 
regular ovals, equal at both ends. The texture is fine, but not very glossy, 
and the shell very stout for so tiny an egg. The extremes in length are 
.93 and .78 in. ( = 23.6 and 19.8 mm.), and in breadth .70 and .56 in. (= 
17.7 and 14.2 mm.). The difference in size between the largest and smallest 
egg is very remarkable, and I am inclined to think my smallest pair must 
be quite abnormal. The average is .87 by .65 in. ( = 22.1 by 16.6 mm.). 
The nest is said to be a tiny platform of thin twigs and bents, only about 
four inches in diameter, and most flimsy in character, placed on low serubby 
bushes. 
The eggs in my collection were taken in January, February, and June. 
