Letters, Announcements, &;c. 447 



TURTUR SHARPII, Sp. nOV. 



T. Turturi aurito affinis, sed pileo clarefulvo ; clorso uropygioque 

 rufescenti-ochraceis ; I'ecti'ices extimce pogonio externu basin 

 versus nigricante ; rectricibus mediis ochraceis. 



Long. tot. 11-5, alse Q, caudse 4*75, tarsi '8, poll. angl. 



The chief points of difference between this new species and 

 the common T. auritus may be summed up as follows : — In 

 marking it is very similar to the last-named bird, but has not 

 the slightest blue tinge on the head and back. The head is of a 

 pale yellowish-brown, lighter beneath, shading gradually on the 

 chest into rich pink, which again fades into white towards the 

 vent. The under tail-coverts are white; the rump and upper 

 tail-coverts are broadly edged with yellowish-brown. The exte- 

 rior web of the outer tail-feather is stained with brownish-black 

 at a distance of about an inch and a half from the tip, while in 

 T. auritus this web is pure white, and in T. cegijptiacus half of 

 it is black. The two middle tail-feathers ai-e broadly edged 

 with yellowish-brown, and the two or three next feathers on 

 each side have their white tips partially marked with the same 

 colour, while in T. auritus the middle tail-feathers are barely 

 tipped with brown, which is of a slaty hue, and the succeeding 

 feathers have their white tips faintly shaded with the same 

 colour. 



The length of the wing from the carpus in T. auritus is from 

 6'75 to 7 inches, and in T. (jegyptiacus only 5 inches; and thus 

 in this respect T. sharpii is intermediate as in its plumage be- 

 tween them. The same is to be said of its habits. It arrives 

 in Egypt in the beginning of March ; and when I was at 

 Assouan in April, it was by far the most abundant. On the 

 15th of April, 60 out of 62 Doves that we killed on one of the 

 islands of the First Cataract were of this species ; it was then 

 breeding abundantly, most of the nests containing young. I 

 did not meet with T. auritus in Egypt until the 30th of April, 

 when I saw a flock of four, and on each succeeding day found 

 them in greater abundance. I feel sure that that species had 

 then only just arrived, and had not begun breeding ; for it can 

 easily be distinguished from T. sharpii, even at a considerable 



N. S. VOL. VI. 2 I 



