106 



EGYPTIAN TURTLE DOVE. 



Order IX.— COLUMB^. 



Family COLUMBID^. f Leech.) 



Genus Turtur. fSelby.J 



Generic Characters. — Bill slender, very slightly arched at the tip; the two 

 first quills graduated, second and third longest; tail rather long, generally 

 rounded; toes long and slender; claws slightly curved. 



EGYPTMN TUETLE DOVE. 



Turtur senegalensis. 



Ticrtur se?jegalensis, 



Columba cBgyptiaca, 

 " cambayeTisis, 

 " maculicollis, 

 Tourterelle d'' Egypte, 

 j^gyptische Tiirteltauhe, 



LiNN^us. Bonaparte. 



Gray; H. L. No. 9317. 



Latham. Bree, ist. ed. 



Temminck. 



Wagler; Syst. Avium. 



Of the French. 



Of the Germans. 



Specific Characters. — External border of the wings black; the upper and 

 middle four tail feathers unicolorous; the most lateral ashy at their base, 

 black in the middle, and bluish white at their distal ends; no black and 

 blue collar on the neck. Length nine inches and a half; carpus to tip 

 five inches and a half; tail four inches and a half; tarsus nine lines; 

 middle toe and claw one inch; beak eleven lines. 



N.B. — The above measurements are from the dry skin of the female 

 specimen which is figured. 



Greece is the European locality of the Egyptian Turtle Dove, and 

 Asia and Africa its real home. Its name is derived from its frequent 

 occurrence in Egypt; but it is also recorded as an inhabitant of Turkey 

 by Degland, and of the Sahara in Algeria by Captain Loche. 



