706 TURTUR SUEATENSIS. 



Himala) r as, collected by Capt. Pin well, measures 5-G inches in the wing, which is only - l more than large 

 Ceylonese individuals. Some Indian specimens are characterized by a stronger blue tint on the head than is 

 noticeable in most Ceylon birds. 



Allied to the present species is Turtur tigrinus, from the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, Lombok, Timor, and 

 other islands. It differs chiefly in its plain or unspotted back, and in the different colour of the spots on the wing- 

 coverts, these being more rufous than in T. suratensis. It is, however,_a darker bird, and has the abdomen and 

 flanks of a warm fulvous colour, and the isabelline of the chest and breast deeper than in its Indian ally. The 

 wings of four examples in the national colled ion, from the Malay archipelago, vary from 5 - 5 to 5"7 inches. A 

 Labuan specimen has the under surface lighter than any others, and the head bluer. In the Malay peninsula and 

 Tenasseriin, and also in Buruiah, this species, according to Mr. Hume, passes through intermediate races, approxi- 

 mating, in the latter region, to the Indian bird, where it has the vinaceous spots of true suratensis reduced to 

 narrow lines, with the dark feather-centres and tips of tigrinus. This race would, however, in my opinion, be more 

 related to the former than the latter species, which is distinguished by having no pale markings at all on the back. 



T. chinensis is another species, larger than T. tigrinus, and perfectly plain on the back, without the dark central lines, 

 and with the under surface darker. 



Distribution. — This is an exceedingly numerous bird in Ceylon, beiug more or less diffused over the whole 

 of the low country, in parts of which it is remarkably abundant, and is likewise an inhabitant of the Kandyan 

 province up to an altitude of 3000 feet or more. Common and well known in the immediate vicinity of Colombo, 

 it is equally so throughout the interior of the Western Province, inhabiting suitable localities in the well-wooded 

 district of Saffragam, and likewise in the equally sylvan and hilly tract of country in the south-west of the 

 island. It is independent of climate, for it is almost quite as common in the dry section of country eastward 

 of the southern ranges ; and in the open tracts, surrounded by wood, of the Eastern Province, and thence 

 north to Trincomalie, I scarcely ever failed to meet with it. It is found in the interior of the northern division 

 of the island wherever there is open land, on the borders of tanks, 'paddy-fields, or clearings surrounding jungle 

 villages. In the extreme north it is common, but in places not so abundant as the last. Layard found it 

 numerous in the Jaffna peninsula, and so did Mr. Holdsworth at Aripu. I have observed it in Dumbara and 

 in the Knuckles, Deltota, Ilewahette, and Pusselawa districts, as also in Uva; but I do not think it ranges 

 much higher than these upland valleys, where it affects the vicinity of the "terraced" paddy-fields of the 

 Kandyans. 



It is generally distributed throughout India from the extreme south to the Himalayas, which it ascends 

 to an altitude of 7000 feet. " As a rule," says Jerdon, " it is most abundant in forest districts or well-wooded 

 countries, and is consequently rare in the bare Carnatic tableland, the Deccan, and the North-western 

 Provinces generally ; and most abundant on the Malabar coast up to Surat, Lower Bengal, and the foot of the 

 Himalayas." It breeds throughout Nepal, according to Mr. Hodgson, and in Upper India, says Mr. Hume, 

 "chiefly affects the submontane districts, whence, as summer approaches, many migrate to the lower 

 forest-clad hills and valleys, where also a good many are permanent residents. In dry tracts such as 

 Cawnporc, Etawah, and Agra they are but rarely seen, and still more rarely found breeding, while at Bareilly, 

 Bijnour, and Shabjehanpoor they are the commonest Dove." Of late it has been recorded by the Rev. 

 Dr. Fairbank as the most common Dove at the base and on the lower ranges of the Palanis, and also as bein°- 

 abundant on the western slopes of the Mahabaleshwar hills ; by Mr. Davidson as common at Sholapoor in 

 the Deccan during the rains; by Mr. Ball as occurring at Bard wan, in the Rajniehal hills, at Midnapur 

 Manbhum, Lohardugga, Sambalpur, Orissa, Nowagarh, and Karial, and throughout Chota Nagpur, not 

 being, however, so common there as the last species. In the north-west of the empire it is not so numerous 

 for Capt. Maiden only met with it in Upper Sindh. In the wooded districts near Mount Aboo it is common 

 but near Deesa, according to Capt. Butler, it is only found during the rains ; and this is also the case about 

 the Sambhur Lake. In Furreedpore and about Calcutta it is common and resident. It does not seem to 

 extend beyond Dacca towards the east, for I find no comment concerning it in the ' List of the Birds of 

 Cachar ;' while in Burmah it seems to exist in an intermediate form more nearly related to itself than to its 

 Malayan ally T. tigrinus. 



Habits. — Wherever there are trees surrounding, or encircled by, open places, this familiar little Dove 



