290 PALUMBIN^E. 



GENUS, Turtur. 



Bill slender, the tip very slightly arched ; the two first quills 

 graduated, second and third longest ; tail somewhat long, usually 

 rounded ; toes long and slender ; the claws slightly curved. 



Turtur pulchratus, Hodgs. 



792. Turtwr rupicolus, Pallas. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, 

 p. 476 ; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 92 ; Deccan, 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 420. 



THE ASHY TURTLE DOVE. 



Length, 12 to 13 ; expanse, 20*5 ; wing, 7 to 8 ; tail, 5 to 5 '5 ; 

 tarsus, 075 ; bill at front, 07. 



Bill blackish-horny ; irides light orange ; legs dull purplish. 



Head bluish-ashy, with the, occiput and nape rufescent ; back 

 and rump ashy -brown, more ashy on the latter ; wings dusky ; 

 the coverts widely margined with dark rufous ; tail bluish-black, 

 with a broad white tip ; beneath brown, becoming whitish 

 towards the vent ; lower tail-coverts white, with a faint tinge of 

 ashy ; neck spot black. 



The Ashy Turtle Dove is common during the cold weather in 

 many parts of the Deccan ; it is also common at Mhow ; a single 

 specimen has been recorded from Aboo, but in Sind it does not 

 occur at all. 



Turtur meena, Sykes. 



793. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 476 ; Butler, Deccan ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 420 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central 

 India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 130. 



THE RUFOUS TURTLE DOVE. 

 Length, 11*5 to 12'5 ; wing, 7 ; tail, 4'5. 



Bill blackish, tinged lake-red ; irides orange ; legs dull purple. 



General color vinaceous-brown, asliy on the forehead and crown, 

 and whitish towards the base of the bill, and more or less mixed 

 with ashy and dusky above ; rump and upper tail-coverts deep 

 grey ; wing-coverts and scapulars dusky, broadly margined with 

 rufous; secondary-coverts usually ashy; winglet and primaries, 

 witn their coverts dusky, the latter edged with whitish ; tail dusky > 

 ash, the outer feathers successively more broadly tipped with 



deep grey, paling on the outermost feather ; beneath the chin 

 and throat whitish ; the rest of the plumage pale vinaceous- 

 brown, deepest on the breast, and becoming albescent on the 

 lower abdomen ; vent and lower tail-coverts light grey ; the 

 neck-patch black, with grey tips, narrower than in the preceding 

 species. 



The Rufous Turtle Dove is affined very closely to the last, 

 the principal difference being the color of the under tail-coVerts. 

 It is found in the cold weather in parts of the Deccan, 



