THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 269 



she left her nest, I put it down at once as that of the present 

 species ; but a few days afterwards I found a nest exactly simi- 

 lar, and containing exactly similar eggs, and of this nest I shot 

 the female which proved to be Chalcojyhaps indica, so I. infer that 

 the first nest was also one of C. indica." 



795 bis.— Turtur tigrina, Temm. (0.) 



We never observed this species either on the Andamans, or 

 Nicobars, but Blyth actually received a specimen of this species 

 brought from the Nicobars by Capt. Lewis, and it does therefore, 

 apparently, occasionally occur there. 



797.— Turtur humilis, Temm. (1.) 



One single specimen, a female, which I refer to this species, 

 was obtained at Aberdeen. Though excessively closely related 

 to our Indian humilis, I am by no means certain that the 

 Andaman species will not prove distinct. The upper surface 

 of the bird is altogether darker. The whole crown is a bluish 

 grey, something like in the male of humilis. There is no blue 

 grey at all about the wings, and the wing is slightly larger 

 than in any Indian specimen I have compared it with. The bird 

 was dissected and carefully sexed by Mr. Davison. It is 

 impossible, however, to arrive at any conclusion from a single 

 specimen. 



Davison says : — " This little turtle dove is exceedingly rare 

 at the Andamans, I did not see above half a dozen during the 

 whole course of my stay, and no male that I remember, and 

 I only obtained a single specimen, shot close to the shore near 

 Aberdeen. I am unable to say, whether they are permanent 

 residents, or merely seasonal visitants ; if the former, where 

 they breed, what localities they usually frequent, or anything 

 about them ; all I do know is that the few I occasionlly saw 

 were flying as if for dear life, across the mainland, and the 

 craw of the one obtained contained only a few grass seeds. I 

 did not observe this, or any other turtle dove at the Nicobars, 

 nor could I learn that they ever occurred there." 



And I may add that this latter means more than may be 

 supposed, because the Nicobarese are very fond of catching and 

 caging all kinds of pigeons, parrots, mynahs, and the like, and, 

 some of them at any rate, can count over to you on their fingers 

 every kind of bird they ever capture. 



798.— Chalcophaps indicus, Lin. (35.) 



This bird is common in many parts of the Nicobars and 

 Andamans. I find myself quite unable to separate any of my 



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