126 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



marking of the under surface thereof to the fair spectator 

 below. 



I have seen this done by several wild species, and also 

 by a tame bird, to which I used occasionally to allow a 

 little liberty ; and this shows the persistence of the in- 

 stinct, for the quarters in which such tame Doves are usual- 

 ly kept are not so spacious as to afford facilities for the 

 performance. But nothing is more striking than the fide- 

 lity with which individuals of a species, or various na- 

 turally allied species, will reproduce the same attitudes 

 in courtship, showing the essentially artless and in- 

 stinctive nature of the performance. Thus, all the 

 Turtle-doves, when bowing, keep their tail closed, not 

 spreading it as the pigeon does, though they have just 

 as much, if not more, reason for doing so, as the closure 

 prevents the light side feathers from being seen. 



The Turtle-doves, however, may well be tenacious of 

 their customs, for they are a prosperous clan, albeit con- 

 fined to the Old World, and mostly to the warmer parts 

 thereof ; but their conjugal and parental devotion enables 

 them to inciease rapidly in spite of individual feebleness 

 and small broods, and wherever they occur they are com- 

 mon birds as a rule. Only a few migrate, but our only 

 English species, the traditional and original Turtle-dove 

 (Turtur communis), is a thriving migrant which is continu- 

 ally extending its range northward. The Spotted Dove 

 s a short-winged bird compared with this and is one 

 of our resident and most characteristic birds in India . 

 in Burma its place is taken by a very near aily, the Malay 

 Spotted Dove (Turtur iigrinus), which is less distinctly 



