346 COLUMBIA. 



Alsocomus hodgsoni (Vig.). The Speckled Wood-Pigeon. 



Alsocomus hodgsonii ( Vig.\ Jerd. IL Intl. ii, p. 403. 



Dendrotreron hodgsonii ( Vig.}, Hume, Rough Draft N. $ E. no. 783. 



1 know nothing as yet certainly of the nidificatioii of this 

 species, the Speckled Wood-Pigeon, but should certainly have 

 expected it to nest on trees. Captain Irby, however, remarks, in 

 the 'Ibis' for 1861, that this species is "frequently seen in 

 Kumaon in April and May ; at that time some nested in inaccessible 

 cliffs near Moonsheyaree, about seventy miles from Almorah.''' 



This may be correct, but requires confirmation. Captain Cock 

 told me that this species " breeds in Cashmere. In June I shot 

 the birds, which were evidently breeding, in the Sonamerg Valley. 

 I was not, however, fortunate enough to take their eggs, which we 

 may, however, safely conclude to be of the usual type." 



Palumbus casiotis, Bonap. The Himalayan Wood-Piyeou. 



Palumbus casiotis, Bonap., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 464; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. $ E. no. 784. 



The Himalayan "Wood-Pigeon or Cushat breeds, as far as I have 

 yet ascertained, only in the extreme North-west Himalaya, and 

 perhaps also in the higher fir-forests immediately below the snow 

 in the Western Himalayas generally. 



I have never found a nest. About Simla, Mussoorie, and 

 Almorah they first appear about the beginning of November, and 

 remain with us throughout the winter and until perhaps the middle 

 of April, but they then disappear. Captain Hutton and Mr. E. 

 Wilson quite confirm my experience. The former writes : " It is 

 a curious fact that, although in the depth of winter the Himalayan 

 Cushat (Palumbus casiotis} is abundant both at and around Mus- 

 soorie, they are not in summer, when they leave us, to be found 

 in the forests of our central region, although procurable in the 

 higher tracts between the Jumna and the Sutlej. Of this I have 

 been assured by Mr. E. Wilson, who informs me that, although he 

 has at all seasons of the year explored the central forests between 

 the Ganges and the Jumna, he does not remember to have seen 

 this Pigeon in summer ; it would therefore appear to wing its way, 

 as the spring sets in, across the Jumna to the higher forests of the 

 North-west, and this I believe to be the case with many species 

 which, appearing to shun the tracts between the Jumna and the 

 Ganges, are yet to be found in Sirmoor on the one hand and in 

 Kumaon on the other to the east and west of us ; but why this 

 should be, unless influenced by the nature of the forests, remains 

 to be discovered. In short, whatever may be the reason, it clearly 

 proves that there are yet many things in the natural history of 

 both heaven and earth that are still unknown to our philosophy." 



Further west they are plentiful in summer and at low eleva- 

 tions. On the 20th May Captain Unwin took a nest containing 



