258 BIKDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



black ; belly and flanks, a mixture of vinaceous and cinereous, 

 with a profusion of crescent-shaped markings ; bare place 

 round the eye ; bill and legs bright yellow. Length, 13" ; 

 wing, 8" 9'" ; tail, 5J". 



In the months of November and December these pigeons congregate 

 at the Knysna. in vast flocks, to feed on the berries that are then ripe j 

 they also extend to the Cape peninsula, migrating thither at the season 

 when the wild olive is in fruit, on the berries of which it greedily feeds, 

 whence its name. It breeds upon trees in mountain ravines, and I 

 have been informed lays four eggs, only two of which come to per- 

 fection. Two eggs which I have had given me as the eggs of this 

 species, are of the usual white colour and shape : axis, 1" 6'"; diameter, 

 14'". The nest is a loose structure of sticks. 



Mr. Atinore writes, under date 13th May, 1.864, from near Blanco : 

 " The large yellow-billed and yellow-legged bush-dove is breeding here 

 now, high on the mountain. They make their nests on the tops of the 

 tree-ferns. I am trying to get some young ones for you.'' 



Genus ^NA, Selby. 



Bill very slender, and moderate ; wings lengthened, with 

 the first three quills nearly equal, and longer than the others ; 

 tail very long, and much cuneated, with the two middle 

 feathers narrowed ; .tarsi nearly the length of the middle toe, 

 and slender; toes moderate, with the lateral ones nearly equal. 



508. JEna OapensiS, Linn.; Selby, PL EnL, 140; 

 Columba Capensis, Lath. ; La Tourtelette, Le Vail., 

 Nos. 273, 274 ; Cuv., Vol. 3, p. 92 ; Col Atrogularis, 

 WagL Nat. Lib., Vol. 8, p. 214. 



ABOVE, ash- coloured ; bluish on the secondaries, with a rich 

 purple spot ; wing-feathers deep red, edged with dark-brown ; 

 forehead, cheeks, chin, throat, and chest, glossy black; as 

 are also the under sides of the tail-feathers, the outermost of 

 which are blotched with white ; a white bar almost hidden 

 by the closed wing extends across the rump, succeeded after 

 a little interval by a narrow black one the ends of the tail- 

 coverts, black, form a third bar on the tail ; bill and feet, in 

 life, coral-red and orange. The 9 wants the black on the 

 head, throat, &c., and is altogether more (lull in colour ; 

 tail much elongated and graduated. Length, 10J" ; wing, 

 4" ; tail, 5" 9'". 



These lovely little pigeons exteiiu over the whole of the colony, and 

 appear in all the collections made in the Interior. In the Karroo they 

 abound, breeding in the mimosa bushes. Their nests are rarely 

 placed above a man's reach, and are simply a loose platform of sticks, 



