48 COLUMB1DJE. 



of outermost pair white ; lower parts vinous red, whitish on chin 

 and vent ; under tail-coverts white ; flanks and under wing-coverts 

 grey. 



Females are brown above, greyish on head, rump, flanks, and 

 edge of wing; breast light brown, sometimes with a vinous tinge ; 

 a black nuchal collar and the tail as in males. 



Young birds are pale brown almost throughout, andhave no collar; 

 the feathers of the back and wings are pale-edged. 



Bill black ; irides dark brown ; eyelids plumbeous ; legs vinaceous 

 brown ; claws black ; the joints of he scales on the legs white 

 (Oates}. 



Length about 9 ; tail 4 ; wing 5-5 ; tarsus '75 ; bill from 

 gape '75. 



The Indian form (E. tranquebarica has of late years genernliy 

 been regarded as specifically distinct from the Burmese and Chinese 

 bird (E. humilis, on account of the coloration of the latter being 

 deeper and the wing-lining dark grey instead of pale. Salvadori, 

 however, has shown that the coloration of the upper parts is not 

 constantly different, and although Burmese birds have very dark 

 wing-linings, there is little if any distinction bet\ve?n Chinese and 

 Indian birds, and the difference is in any case so small as scarcely 

 to be of specific importance. 



Distribution. Throughout India, by no means scarce in the 

 Punjab, Sind, and Bajputana, though not known farther west. 

 This Dove was obtained at G-ilgit by Biddulph, and in Ceylon, where 

 it appears to be very rare, by Layard. It ranges throughout Burma 

 to the Andarnans and through Cochin China and China to the 

 Philippines. 



Habits, fyc. This is less common in India than some other doves, 

 but it is widely distributed, except in forest-tracts. Its call is 

 short and deep. It is not unfrequently found in small flocks. 

 Eggs have been taken from January to July and in November ; 

 but Hume believes that this species has only two broods in the 

 year. The eggs are slightly elongated, two in number, and waxy 

 white or cream-coloured, and measure about T02 by -8. The nests 

 are on trees and are of the usual type. 



Genus MACROPYGIA, Swainson, 1837. 



This genus contains several long-tailed Doves inhabiting the 

 Oriental and Australian regions, and ranging from the Himalayas 

 to the New Hebrides and Australia. Thev may at once be dis- 

 tinguished from all other Indian Columbine by having a graduated 

 1ail that equals or exceeds the wing in length. The bill is slender, 

 the head small and Dove-like, the tarsus short and partly feathered, 

 the feet adapted for perching, the toes being long and the soles 

 broad ; the feathers of the rump are spinous, and the tail-coverts 

 elongate. 



Twenty-seven species are described in Salvadori's Catalogue, 

 and twenty-six in a paper by Major Wardlaw Bamsay published 



