3384 The Zoologist — February, 1873. 



does not seem dissipated by the evidence of the vohirae before me. 

 It is well known that the usual distinctive character of Columba 

 livia is the white rump ; but this character is lost in domestication, 

 — I mean lost as distinctive, — for the white rump is far more 

 uncommon then any other colour : thus it is evident that this 

 character becomes inconstant and almost evanescent under con- 

 tinued domestication. At Oban I observed many pigeons breeding 

 in the rocks, and here also the white rump is by no means 

 invariable : the rump, or more properly the lower part of the back, 

 including the tail-coverts, is frequently blue or gray. Professor 

 Macgillivray disposes of this variation by supposing it a proof of 

 domestication. This usually logical writer seems rather to con- 

 tradict himself in the following passage : — " Among the vast 

 numbers of undoubtedly wild specimens which I have seen, I have 

 not observed any remarkable variations of form and colour : the 

 dark coloured, purple and white individuals which are occasionally 

 seen consorting with the wild doves, or residing in maritime caves 

 or rocks, are in all probability domestic birds that have betaken 

 themselves to the original mode of life." — Vol. i., p. 27. Still such 

 variation is of common occurrence, and, whatever the explanation, 

 the white rump has conipletely vanished from the dark-coloured 

 and purple individuals. The same aberration of colouring has 

 occurred on our south coast, where the species is far from abundant, 

 and hence it has been said that Columba a?nas is occasionally 

 found breeding on rocks — the determination of the species, I sup- 

 pose, being decided by the colour of the rump. lu Ireland one 

 sees many piebald doves breeding on the rocky coasts, and this 

 piebald appearance has led to the proposal of a new species, 

 Columba macularia. Tliis supposed species, which wants the black 

 bars on the wing as well as the white rump, breeds in great numbers 

 at Sybil Head, as recorded by Mr. Andrews in a paper read before 

 the Dublin Natural History Society in November, 1841. I will 

 now quote Mr. Shelley's observations on this variation as observed 

 in Egypt. 



" By far the greater proportion of Egyptian pigeons have a gray rump, 

 and such birds I refer to the next species, Columba Schimperi, although 

 I consider the colour of the rump to be a rather doubtful mark of specific 

 distinction, as one cannot feel sure of the purity of the breed of even the 

 apparently wild race." — P. 212. 



