CAPE PIGEON. . 103 



La Tourtelette. Buff. Ois. 2. 554. Buff. PI. Enl 140. male. 

 Le Vaill. Ois. <?AJrique. 6. pi. 273. 274. male and female. 

 pi. 275. young. 



Colombe Tourtelette. Temm. Pig. (8vo.) p. 366. 



Cape Pigeon. Lath. Gen. Syn. 4. 666. 65. 



THIS is the smallest of the Pigeon Family, scarcely 

 exceeding the size of the common Sparrow : its 

 total length is nine inches and a half, of which 

 the tail takes up five. The male has the forehead 

 and throat black ; on the latter the colour is pro- 

 duced down the fore-part of the neck to the 

 breast : the hind-head, the back of the neck, the 

 shoulders, the back, and the whole of the upper 

 coverts, the wings, and the tail, are of an earthy- 

 grey ; the greater wing-coverts have a violaceous 

 spot, with golden reflections ; the rump possesses 

 three narrow transverse black stripes : the quills 

 are reddish on their interior webs, and on the out- 

 side and towards the tip dusky : the tail-feathers 

 are of a grey-brown at their origin, the six middle 

 ones are tipped with black ; the lateral ones have 

 a black band towards their extremities, which are 

 of a grey-colour ; the most exterior feather on 

 each side has its outer web white : the under part 

 of the tail is entirely black : the belly and the ab- 

 domen are of a pure white : the beak is yellow ; 

 and the legs are red. The female has the whole 

 of the head, the neck, the breast, the greater wing- 

 coverts, the back, and the base of the two middle 

 tail-feathers, of a grey-brown : the whole of the 

 lesser wing-coverts, and part of the middle ones, 



