158 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIII. 



In Rawal Pindi District (1911) I found these handsome Doves extremely- 

 numerous in the wooded portions of the Topi Park from the middle of April 

 up till the middle of May, when I left for the Hills. They were noticeably 

 shyer than the other species of doves and but seldom found out of the 

 denser woods. In 1912 they were there on the 5th May when I passed 

 through. I have not been in Rawal Pindi during the autumn migrations, 

 but they doubtless pass through in October, as at Nathia Gali last year I 

 found them in flocks preparing to depart during the last half of September 

 and a few occurred at Jhelum during the last week of October. A few 

 occur at Jhelum on the spring migration also. As for their status in the 

 rest of Punjab — save for Kohat where they are similarly spring and autumn 

 migrants — I can obtain no information ; any notes on the subject would 

 he welcome. 



In the Punjab — apart from the hill districts like Kangra and part of 

 Rawal Pindi— the Spotted Dove {Streptopelia s. suratensis) is apparently 

 rare or a seasonal migrant only, for the only part where I have met it is 

 Jhelum : here on four occasions only, from November to March, I have met 

 with a pair and three odd birds, probably stragglers from the Jammu Hills. 



With regard to the Eastern Stockdove ( Columba a. eversmanni) it would 

 seem to be in the Punjab a spring and autumn passage migrant rather 

 than a winter visitor, but more evidence is greatly to be desired : person- 

 ally I have only met it at Phillaur towards the end of April, and near 

 Fazilka, Ferozepore district, about the middle of October ; on both occa- 

 sions it occurred in large flocks. Hansi in March and Kohat in the latter 

 half of April are the only dated records which I can find. 



With regard to the Green Pigeons in the Punjab, the published material 

 is very scanty ; any evidence as to species obtained with dates and locali- 

 ties would be very welcome to enable one to work out their distribution in 

 these parts : in many districts they would seem to be entirely absent. 



I should be very grateful to anyone who would either corroborate or 

 disprove the correctness of any of the above remarks on the distribution of 

 our Punjab Pigeons and Doves. 



H. WHISTLER, m.b.o.u., 

 Jhelum, March 1914. Indian Police. 



No. XVIII.— DOVES IN BOMBAY. 



In his "Indian Pigeons and Doves" Mr. Stuart Baker, writing of the distri- 

 hution of the Spotted Dove Sti-eptopelia s. suratensis s&ys "Hoih. "Eha" 

 and Dewar state that this dove is never found on the Island of Bombay, though 

 hoththe little Brown and the Ring-dove swarm." As this hardly agrees with 

 my experience I have thought it worthwhile to give the quotations referred 

 to from the works of "Eha" and Dewar. 



" Eha " writes of the Spotted Dove: " On the mainland and islands just 

 across our harbour it is very plentiful, but I have never seen it in Bombay. 

 The doves I have met with about Oumballa and Malabar Hills all belong to 

 the species so common in Poona " {i.e., risorius and cambayensis). Dewar says: 

 " It is the commonest dove of Calcutta, of Madras, of Travancore, of Tirhoot, 

 of Lucknow but not Lahore or Bombay or the Deccan." 



Either the birds have changed or " Eha " made a mistake, but certainly 

 Streptopelia s. suratensis is found iu Bombay now. Mr, Comber in his List of 

 Birds in the Bombay City Gazetteer gives this species and the little Brown 

 Dove, not mentioning the Ring-Dove in Bombay. On the southern end 

 of the adjoining Island of Salsette all three species are very common, 



N. B. KINNEAR. 

 Bombay, April 1914. 



