Turtle Doves and Allies. 151 



Scaly Dove (Scardafella squamosa). 



Mr Seth-Smith, who bred this species in his aviaries some years 

 ago, did not say how he distinguished the sexes ; but Dr Russ, who 

 bred it many years before, says : " The female can only be 

 distinguished in this respect, that in all its markings, and particularly 

 in the rose-coloured ones, it appears duller" [Die Fremdlandischen 

 Stubenvogel, vol. ii. p. 785). In some which I saw soon after their 

 importation, it struck me that the scaling on the breast was better 

 marked in the male than in the female, but this character may 

 perhaps be variable. 



Metal-spotted Turtle Doves (Peristerince). 

 Steel-barred Dove (Columbula picui). 



The female is distinctly smaller than the male, and her bill 

 viewed in profile is more slender ; the upper parts are paler, browner, 

 without the bluish-grey tint of the cock bird, the breast browner 

 with less of the rosy tinting of the male, and the sides of the 

 abdomen, though paler, are of the same sordid tint, but in this last 

 detail some males are indistinguishable from the hens. 



Passerine Dove (Chamcepelia jwsserina). 



There are many local races of this species, which differ from one 

 another in the colouring of the soft parts and the amount of rose 

 colour in their plumage.* That most frequently imported as a 

 cage-bird differs sexually as follows : — The male is larger than the 

 female, has a stouter bill, has better defined breast markings and a 

 delicate rosy tint over that part of the body. There may be other 

 slight differences, but my male bird is still living, and therefore not 

 easily compared with his dead wife, and to compare many skins 

 from various localities is confusing. 



Talpacoti Dove {Chamcepelia talpacoti). 



Dr Russ thus distinguishes the female from the male : " Female 

 greyer, the shoulder-bars narrower and less distinct " {Die Fremd 

 landischen Stubenvogel, vol. ii. p. 787). Salvadori describes " a 

 brownish tinge on the mantle." C. minuta is also said to have 

 been imported ; sexes very different. 



Cinereous Dove (Peristera cinerea). 



"Female. — Upper parts brown, almost cinnamon on the upper 

 tail-coverts, paler on the forehead ; spots on the upper wing- 

 coverts and inner secondaries brown-cinnamon, the larger ones 

 on the median and greater wing-coverts bounded behind with a 

 light line ; throat whitish, lower fore-neck and breast pale brown, 



* For instance, Count Salvadori says : " Female. — With little or none of the 

 purplish-red " ; but the form most imported shows only delicate rosy pink on the 

 breast of the male. 



