410 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus TURTUR. 



The Turtle-Doves were associated with the Pigeons by Linnseus. Bole 

 included them in the genus Peristera, in which Swainson had, in 1827, 

 placed the American Ground-Doves ; but in 1835 Selby established the 

 genus Turtur for their reception, in his ' Natural History of the Pigeons ' 

 (p. 169), which forms the fifth volume devoted to Ornithology of Jardine's 

 Naturalist's Library. The Common Turtle-Dove, being the Columba turtur 

 of Linnseus, becomes of necessity the type of the genus. 



The Turtle-Doves may be distinguished by having the prevailing colour 

 of the plumage brown, by their more or less defined black collar on the 

 neck, and the total absence of any metallic shades in their plumage, and 

 by their more or less rounded tails, which are shorter than the wings. 

 They are birds of small size and slender form ; the wings are long and 

 pointed ; the bill is very slender, and the tarsus is short and scutellated 

 in front. 



There are about twenty-four species of Turtle-Doves, all of which are 

 confined to the Old World. They are distributed over the Southern 

 portions of the Palsearctic, the Ethiopian, and the Oriental Regions, and 

 the Austro-Malayan portion of the Australian Region. One species is a 

 common summer visitor to Europe, including the British Islands ; two 

 others are rare stragglers into Europe, and one inhabits the extreme south- 

 east of the continent. 



The Turtle-Doves do not differ much in their habits from the Pigeons, 

 but are more closely confined to well-wooded districts. Their flight is 

 straightforward and powerful, and on the ground they run and walk. 

 Their food is very similar to that of the Pigeons, and they also feed their 

 young from the crop. They pair for life, building a slight flat nest in a 

 tree or large bush ; and their eggs, two in number, are white. 



