THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 



The adult Turtle Dove has the head and back of the 

 neck lavender-grey, shading into chestnut-brown on the 

 upper back, with a strong lavender shade on the lower 

 back and rump, and into brown on the upper tail-coverts ; 

 the scapulars, innermost secondaries, and some of the 

 wing-coverts are pale chestnut, with darker central 

 markings ; the outer wing-coverts are lavender-grey, the 

 secondaries brown washed with grey, the primaries and 

 their coverts brown ; all but the central tail-feathers are 

 blackish grey tipped with white, the outermost white 

 on the outer web, the central pair uniform brown ; at 

 each side of the neck is a patch of black feathers with 

 lavender tips ; the breast is lavender-grey with a rosy 

 suffusion, shading into white on the abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts, and lavender on the flanks. Bill brown ; 

 tarsi and toes crimson ; irides reddish brown. Length 

 II inches. In the young in first plumage most of the 

 feathers have broad rufous margins, and the neck patches 

 are absent. The nestling is first clothed in thin, hair- 

 like, downy plumes of straw-colour. 



260 



