178 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY 
The Turki name of the Turtle Dove is Turulghu, evidently 
a sort of imitation of the bird’s coo. 
Stoliczkee, Hume. 
096 A.—Tortur { ? intercedens, Brehm. 
Two males, shot at Yarkand in March, measured and weighed.— 
Length, 13°7 to 13°75; expanse, 21:25 to 21:5; wing, 7 25; 
tail, 6°2 to 66; tarsus, 0:9 to 1:0; bill, from gape, 0°9 to 
1:0; closed wings fall short of tail, 3.5; weight, 60z. to 7°250z. 
Bill, black ; irides, dark red; lower eyelid, slaty grey; legs 
and feet, purplish red ; claws, dusky or black. 
Yarkand, February.—Leneth 13°5; wing, 7:2; tail, 
6:1; tarsus, 0°96; bill, from gape, 0°92. Bill, black ; irides, 
dark red; legs and feet, reddish purple ; claws, black. 
Two females, shot at Kashghar in October and at Yarkand in 
February.—Length, 13:1 to 13:2; wing, 67 to 69; tail, 5:6 
to 5:9 ; tarsus, 0-9 to 0°95; bill, from gape, 0:9 to 0°91. 
Bill, black ; irides, dark red; legs and feet, purplish red ; 
claws, dusky, and black with brown tips. 
This Dove is one of the commonest birds in the plains of 
Eastern Turkestan ; it is at least three times more numerous than 
Turtur auritus (when the latter is in the country,) and is a per- 
manent resident throughout the year. It is always to be found 
near villages and houses; perching on trees, or running about 
on the ground and picking up grain and seeds. The birds are 
very tame, and in winter, they would come right up to the door 
of my room at Yarkand, "to be fed. A regular colony of these 
Doves lived about the compound of the Residency at Yarkand, 
so I could have easily secured any number of specimens had 
I known that the bird was supposed to be a new species. 
A favorite trick of the Yarkand boys is to capture one of 
these Doves, and smear its feathers all over with soot mixed 
up with oil. The bird is then allowed to fly away, and after a 
few days, when the feathers have shaken into their ordinary 
positions, the Ringdove presents quite a natural appearance. 
Only as it moves about with its fellows, it looks truly a dove in 
mourning. 
This species begins to lay in April, often making its nest 
on the top of walls, and laying two pure white eggs. On the 
15th June, I saw one of these birds making its nests in the 
fork of a truncated poplar tree about eight feet from the ground ; 
the nest was not well sheltered, and did not then contain any 
eggs. 
“The Turki name for this Dove is Pakhtak; c f, Fakhtah.— 
a Dove (Persian). 
