324 0?i the Half- Collared 7"urtle Dove.


Collared Turtles which I have so far kept (five species) have a

note which evidently corresponds to the well known laughing

note of the Barbary Dove, but in each species it is quite distinct.

This note in the Half-collared Turtle is a sort of whistled weehd

weehd, it is often uttered by the male on alighting on a perch or

before beginning to coo to the hen. This coo is a four-syllable

note, sounding something like 5o-5o-c5o-66, drawing up his head

and expanding his chest he makes a dignified but not very low

bow to the accompaniment of each set of notes, between each of

which a step or two is often taken towards the hen if she retires

before him. These notes are very deep and may almost be said

to be whispered into the hen's ear. I have often been unable to

hear them distinctly when only about twelve feet from the birds.


Much louder, however, is what may be called the call note

of the bird, which is often uttered when it is perched alone ; it is

a resounding cheerful Coo-ess cos cii-coo-cu, altered several times

but invariably ending with the coo-coo. The note used by the

cock to attract the hen, when he is sitting in the nest before the

eggs are laid sounds like this also, only it may then be continued

for a considerable time.


As is to be expected in a species having such a wide range

as the subject of these notes, specimens differ a little from

different localities. Erlanger in the J. f. O. 1905 has described

two races as differing from typical examples. The birds from

the high lying regions of S. Abyssinia, Gallaland, Equatorial, and

S. Africa are said to be smaller and darker brown on the upper

surface. The name of i7itermedius has been bestowed on this

form, while the birds from S. Somaliland are called minor from

their still smaller size and are distinguished by being greyer and

less vinous on nape and breast. Swainson's erythropkys does not

probably differ from typical birds.



BIRDS OF PARADISE.



The collector sent out to New Guinea and the Aru Islands by Sir

William Ingram, Bart, has recently returned to Europe with a number of

King Birds of Paradise, males and females, five or six adult females of the

Great Bird {Paradisea apoda), the first to arrive of this sex, two Manucodes,

and other rarities.



