36 OOLTJMBID^E. 



1299. Alsoconms elphinstonii. The Nilgiri Wood-P'ujeon. , 



Ptilinopus elphin-tonii, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 149; Jerdon, Madr. 



Jour. L. S. xii, p. 11. 

 Columba elphinstonii, Blt/th, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 866; Jerdon, lit. 



Ind. Orn. pi. 48 ; Salva'dori, Cat. B. M. xxi, p 304. 

 Palumbus elphinstonei, Blyth, Cat. p. 233 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, 



p. 405; Hume, N. 8f E. p. 498; Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 323; 



Fairbank, S. F. iv, p. 262 ; v, p. 408 ; Bourdillon, S. F. iv, p. 404 ; 



Hume, Cat. no. 786 ; Vidal, S. F. ix, p. 74 ; Butler, ibid. p. 419 ; 



Davtson, S. F. x, p. 407 ; Maegmgw t ibid. p. 440 ; Terry, ibid. 



p. 479; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 288 ; Oates in Hume's N. > E. 



2nd ed. ii, p. 347. 



Coloration. Crown, sides of head and neck, and nape prey, with 

 a slight metallic gloss ; a large patch on the hind neck ot' black 

 feathers, with glossy edges and white tips ; back reddish brown, 

 glossed with reddish lilac changing to metallic green ; wings 

 blackish, most of the lesser and median coverts with brown edges ; 

 rump and tail blackish brown, feathers of the former with glossy 

 edges ; lower parts grey ; chin and throat whitish ; breast ashy 

 with a slight gloss, the abdomen slightly tinged with lilac ; lower 

 tail-coverts slaty ; wing-lining dark slaty grey. 



Corneous part of bill and claws horny white ; fleshy part of bill, 

 eyelids, legs, and feet pink ; irides pale yellowish red to red-brown 

 (Davison). 



Length about 16*5; tail 6; wing 8*5 ; tarsus 1; bill from 

 gape 1-1. 



Distribution. The higher parts of the Western Ghats or Syhadri 

 hill-ranges near the Malabar coast from Mahableshwar to Cape 

 Comorin, in forest. On the Nilgiris this Pigeon is only found 

 above about 5000 feet in the sholas. 



Habits, &fc. This bird has very much the habits of Carpophaya ; 

 it keeps to the woods singly or in small parties and feeds on frnit, 

 buds, and, according to Jerdon, snails. It occasionally descends 

 to the ground outside the forest to feed. It breeds from March 

 to July, builds the usual loose platform of sticks on large trees in 

 dense forest, and lays one egg measuring about 1-5 by 1-1. 



1300. Alsoconms torringtoniae. The Ceylon Wood-Pigeon. 



Palumbus elphinstonei, var., Blyth, J. A. S. B. xx, p. 178 (1851). 

 Palumbus torringtonii, Kelaart, Prodrom. Faun. Zeyl. pp. 107, 130 



(1852), descr. nulla : Bonap. Consp. Av. ii, p. 42 (1854); Blyth, 



Ibis, 1867, p. 306 ; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 424 ; id. Cat. no. 786 bis ; 



Oates in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 348. 

 Palumbus torringtoniae, Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872 ; p. 466 ; Legge, 



Birds Ceyl. p. 693, pi. xxx. 

 Columba torringtoniae, Salvadori, Cat. B. M. xxi, p. 303. 



Mila-goya, Cing. 



Coloration. Very similar to that of the last species, but the 

 crown and lower parts are more lilac and the brown of the mantle 



