CHAPTER XV. 



DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL ON THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF 



CERTAIN RING DOVES. 1 



The genus Turtur is broken up by Salvador! 2 into the subgenera Turtur, Iltn/t- 

 opelia, Streptopelia (collared turtles), Spilopelia, and Stit/matopelia. Salvadori, 

 however, continued the use of Turtur as the generic name of all the species included 

 in the five groups. I have preferred to treat them as five genera. 



THE BLOND RING-DOVE (STREPTOPELIA RISORIA). 



Salvador! does not regard this bird, more often known as Turtur risurius, as a 

 distinct species, for he says (footnote, p. 414) : " It is uncertain to which species the 

 tame dove belongs," and gives in the same footnote the synonymy which applies to it. 



Thirteen species are named under the subgenus Streptopelia, and T. risorius is 

 supposed to belong to one of these, but which one is not even suggested. In the 

 long list of synonyms I see that the bird has been named as follows : 



Linnceus, Columba risoria (S, N. I, p. 285, N. 33) in 1766. 

 Buffon, Tourterelle a collier (Hist. Nat. Ois., II, p. 550) in 1771. 

 Latham, Collared turtle (Syn., II., 2, p. 648, W. 42) in 1783. 

 Selby, Turtur risorius (Nat. Libr., Pigeons, p. 170) in 1835. 

 Bonaparte, Streptopelia risoria (Consp. Av., II., p. 65) in 1854. 



In a further footnote (p. 415) Salvadori remarks: "This bird has become very 

 common everywhere in a domesticated state." His description of this dove (same 

 footnote) is as follows: 



"Adult male. Upper parts yellowish bay or isabelline, greyer on the outer wing-coverts and 

 secondaries; a broad black collar, edged above with whitish grey, on the hind neck; throat almost 

 pure white; breast pale isabelline, changing into white on the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts; 

 sides pale grey; under wing-coverts pale grey, almost white; primaries pale brown; central tail- 

 feathers isabelline grey, the lateral ones darkish grey, changing into white toward the tips; outer 

 web of the outer tail-feather almost white; tail below blackish at the base, the black sharply defined 

 from the apical half, which is white, but tinged with grey near the black part; bill light horn; irides 

 orange, feet pink-red. Total length about 10 inches, wing 6, tail 4.5, bill 0.6, tarsus 0.85. 



"Female. Similar to the male, only somewhat smaller." 



The white ring-dove is regarded by this author as a variety of T. risorius. 

 Salvadori notes that the following hybrids of the blond ring-dove have been 

 obtained : 



1. Ectopistcs miyratorius cT x T. risorius 9- (Mitch., P.Z.S., 1849). 



2. C. livia var. laticauda cT x T. risorius 9 (Dr. Giinther). 



The range of Streptopelia is given by Salvadori, but he says nothing about that of 

 T. risorius. The range of the subgenus Streptopelia is: "Africa, S. W. Palaearctic 



1 The inclusion of the materials of this chapter in the present volume seems advisable for the following n-a- 

 (1) The "collared" ring-doves have been very extensively used in the breeding data with which the volume chiefly 

 deals. (2) The names of these doves are considerably confused in the literature. (3) The specific value of the blond 

 rings and white ring-doves, which are treated in this volume as species, has not been conceded by most writers. 

 (4) It seems necessary to present Professor Whitman's conclusions on these matters, and to publish what he has 

 added toward an adequate description of these forms. (5) Much of the literature touching these matters is so little 

 available to most of those biologists who will make use of this volume that the extensive quotations herein contained 

 seems warranted. EDITOR. 



'Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, Vol. XXI, 1893. 



189 



