COLUMBA. 507 



1158 PalumbUS Elphinstonei (Sykes), Jerd., B.Ind. ii. p. 465, 

 No. 786; id., III. Ind. Orn. pi. 48; Gould, B. Asia pt. vi. pi. 12 ; Hume, 

 Str. F. vii. pp. 95, 424. Palumbus torringtoni (Kelaarf), Blyth, Ibis, 1867 ; 

 Hume, Sir. F. vii. p. 424. The NEILGHERRY WOOD PIGEON. 



Head and neck ashy ; nuchal patch black, with small white tips] back of 

 neck and interscapulars cupreous ruddy, slightly glossed with greenish ; rest of 

 upper surface of body ruddy brown, dark ashy on the rump and upper tail 

 coverts ; wings, including the quills, dusky black, narrowly edged with ruddy 

 cupreous ; outer primaries pale edged ; tail dull black ; under surface of the 

 body ashy, albescent on the throat ; neck and breast glossed with green ; vent 

 and lower abdomen albescent ; bill deep red, tipped with yellow ; legs and 

 feet dull red. 



Length. 15 to 16 inches ; tail 575 to 6 ; wing 8 to 8-25. 



Hab. The Neilgherries and the dense woods above the Khandalla ghauts in 

 the Deccan. Breeds from March to July, laying only a single egg. Nests placed 

 on high trees in dense woods. Egg spotless glossy white, oval, 1*46 X 1-2. 



Gen. Palumbsena Bp. 



Bill straight, compressed, convex, bent at the tip ; base of upper mandible 

 covered with soft skin, more or less inflated, in which are the nostrils ; hind 

 toe on the same plane with the front ones ; wings ample ; 1st quill shorter 

 than the second, which is the longest. 



Feet fitted for walking, as well as for perching;, habits and colouring inter- 

 mediate to Palumbus and Columba. (Jerd.) 



1159. Palumbsena Eversmanni, Bp^ ic. Pig. t. 61 ; Jerd., 



B. Ind. iii. p. 467, No. 787 ; Hume, Sir. F. i. p. 217 ; Murray, Hdbk., Zool., 

 fyc., Sind, p. 193. The INDIAN STOCK PIGEON. 



Dark ashy, with a whitish grey rump ; crown and breast tinged with vina- 

 ceous, two or three black spots on the wings, forming the rudiments of bands, 

 and the end of the tail black ; its outermost feather white for the basal two- 

 thirds of its exterior web, or showing a black, and then a narrow grey band 

 towards its tip ; beneath the wings whitish, where it is dark ashy in the Euro- 

 pean bird. Bill yellowish translucent; legs with a yellowish tinge; skin round 

 the eye yellow ; irides buff. 



Length. 1 1-5 inches ; expanse 24 ; wing 8 ; tail 4. (Jerdon.) I have only a 

 single specimen of this species from Shikarpoor, in Sind, and in a very unsatis- 

 factory state for describing. Jerdon says this species is found in Western and 

 Central India, and is probably migratory. 



Gen. Columba. Linn, 

 Characters same as those of Palumbcena. 



1160. Columba intermedia, Stncki., Ann. Nat. Hist. Ser. \. xiii. 



P. 39 ; Jerd., B. Ind. ii. p. 469, No. 788 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs Ind, B. p 



