TUETTJE TEANQFEBAEICTJS. 



(THE INDIAN RED DOVE.) 



Columba tranguebarica, Herm. Obs. Zool. p. 200 (1804), ex Tranquebaria . 



Turtur humilis (Temra.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 236 (1849) ; Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. 

 p. 130 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. GO; Jerdon, B. of Ind. 

 iii. p. 482 (1804); Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, p. 218; Ball, ibid. 1874, p. 425; Hume, 

 ibid. 1875, p. 1G5 ; id. Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 507 (1875); Butler & Hume, ibid. 1876, 

 p. 3 ; Fairbank, f. c. p. 202. 



Turtur tranquebarica (Herm.), Hume, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 293 ; Davidson & Wender, ibid. 

 1S77, vii. p. 8G ; Ball, t. c. p. 224 ; Cripps, t. c. p. 297; Hume (List Ind. B.), ibid. 1879, 

 p. 110. 



The Buddy Sing-Dove of some Indian writers. Seroti-faclda, Hind. ; Golahi-ghughu, Tuma- 

 fchuri, lit. " Rose- coloured or Copper-coloured Dove," Bengal.; Rah-guwa, lit. "Tile- 

 coloured Dove;" also Peri-arvpu guwa, Telugu. 



Ah,lt ritaL. "Length 9-42 inches; wing 5-25, expanse 16-0; tail from vent 3-42; tarsus 0-80; bill from gape 081 

 affront 0*58; weight 3*5 oz." {Cripps). Jerdon's measurements are :—" Length 9-25 inches : wing 5 - 5j tail 3-25. " 

 Nepal (British Museum) : wing 5"5 inches : tail 4-0 ; tarsus - 75 ; middle toe 0*75 ; bill to gape 078. 



Obs. This example would appear to be much larger than those from the low country, as exemplified by the above 

 measurements and Mr. Hume's statement that 9*25 inches total length (wing 5-25) is the average of five males. 

 ■• Iris brown ; bill black ; legs and feet horny black" (Cripps). 



Male ( Nepal >. Head and nape slate-blue, paling on the face and forehead ; below the neck a broad black demi-collar, 

 sei off above by a whitish edge; lower part of the hind neck, interscapular region, terminal portion of the wing- 

 coverts, and the innermost secondaries, together with the fore neck, chest, and breast villous red, paler and also 

 pervaded with ashy on the breast and fore neck; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dark plumbeous, paler on the 

 tail-coverts than on the back; primaries brownish slate, with pale edges; secondaries the same, tinged with 

 reddish on the outer webs; basal portion of the wing-covert feathers slaty; central tail-feathers browuish slate- 

 colour, the lateral pair white on the outer webs and black on the basal part of the inner webs ; remaining feathers 

 whitish, tinged with slaty near the tips, and darkening into blackish at the bases; flanks leaden grey; vent and 

 under tail-coverts bluish white; under wing pale slaty grey. 



/■'■ n ■■' e. Hack and wings dull reddish brown, and the breast and under surface pale earthy grey, whitish on the lower 

 parts ; \\ Lng 5-1 inches. 



I have adopted for the bird procured by Layard in the Jaffna peninsula the title used of late for the Indian 

 Ruddy Dove, instead of that under which it was formerly known, and which is now considered to be better 

 applied to the species inhabiting the Philippine Islands and China. Lord Tweeddale, in a paper on the birds of 

 the Philippine Islands, has recently pointed out the distinction between the two races. The eastern form, 

 '/'. humilis (with which Mr. Hume unites the bird inhabiting the Andamans, Tenasserim, and Burmah), differs in 

 being larger and of a darker red beneath, with the head, rump, and under tail-coverts of a darker ash-colour than 

 the Indian race; the under wing is also dark ash-colour instead of pale ashy. It is a matter of conjecture, 

 however, which race Temminck referred to, for he united the two under his title of humilis, inasmuch as he 

 remarks — ••This species inhabits Bengal and the island of Luzon." 



It matters not, however, whether Temminck referred to and figured (PI. Col. 258, 259, 1838) the Indian or the Philip- 

 pine bird as far as the former (that which we have to do with) is concerned, for Hermann's title is of thirty-four 

 years' prior date to his ; and as the specimen he named came from Tranquebar, in the Carnatic, the matter is settled. 



Mr. Hume gives the measurements of the wing of T. humilis as generally 5-5 inches or more ; but it will be seen that 

 a Nepal specimen belonging to the Indian form measures as much as this. Hill specimens mav, however, average 

 larger than those from Bengal. 



