THE IMC, ICONS AND DOVKS. 151 



part of the back ashy instead of pure white, and, 

 as this difference is constant, our bird has been 

 separated under the name Columba intermedia, but 

 it is in all other respects the same bird. It has been 

 less affected by domestication than any other bird 

 or beast which man has taken under his care, except 

 the Guinea Fowl. I do not refer, of course, to fancy 

 Pigeons, Pouters and Fantails and the like. I 

 regard these as monstrosities, like the Japanese fishes 

 with spare heads and tails. The ordinary domestic 

 Pigeon, which is kept for practical purposes, differs 

 from the original stock in scarcely anything but 

 colour. Accordingly it "reverts" to a state of 

 nature without difficulty, and many white and parti- 

 coloured pigeons may be seen about the Fort, which 

 have deserted some dovecote for a life of greater 

 freedom, or perhaps eloped with some blue lover. 

 But the great majority of the birds are pure Blue 

 Rocks that have never known the care of man. The 

 race is found in every part of India, breeding on 

 cliffs, or in the sides of wells, or under railway 

 bridges, and plundering the peafields for miles 

 around. They are attracted to Bombay by two things, 

 plentiful house accommodation and the benevolence 

 of pious Hindoo grain merchants. 



We have also one Turtle Dove, the species which 

 Jerdon calls the Plain Brown Dove (Turtur cavi- 

 bayensis). It is a humble little bird, of an earthy- 

 brown colour, passing into slaty-gray on the wings 

 and tail, and tinged on the head, neck and breast, 

 with that tender tint, peculiar to doves, which the 

 natural history books call " vinaceous," like a faded 

 claret stain on the table cloth. On each side of the 



