TUETUE TRAXQUEBARICUS. 709 



Distribution. — This little Dove appears to have visited the north of Ceylon many years ago, but does not 

 seem -to have been subsequently noticed in the island. Layard, its discoverer as a Ceylonese species, writes a 

 long account of his meeting with it in a tope of cocoauut- and palmyra-trees, situated in the middle of 

 the plain separating the cultivated district of Pt. Pedro from the fertile country between Jaffna and 

 Chavagacherry. The writer cleverly describes the difficulty he found in crossing this waste in the hot season, 

 when every thing was parched up by the burning rays of a tropical sun, combined with the drought that prevads 

 at that time in the Northern Province. His duty compelled him to visit the tope in question ; and after speaking 

 of the effect which the heat had upon himself, his dogs, and the native attendants, he continues : — " The 

 mirage deluded us with its pictures of limpid water and tall trees, my spirits almost sank, and I thought I never 

 should reach the trees before us in the distance. How willingly would I, had I been a litigant for that miserable 

 tope, have resigned it rather than have taken the trouble to walk to it ! Suddenly — the first living thing I had 

 seen for hours — a Pigeon darted past us in full flight towards the tope ; I hardly cared to look at it with my 

 half-closed aching eyes; but its pink-coloured back and small size at once roused me — it was something new! 

 0, how eagerly I watched its flight to that now coveted tope, and longed to be there. The natives knew of no 

 other species but the ' Cally' and 'Mani praas' and stoutly maintained there were none; I was equally positive 

 the bird that flew by was neither of them, and hurried forward; thirst and heat were alike forgotten; and when 

 I reached the spot, instead of partaking of the cocoanuts which the head-man's forethought had provided there 

 for me, I sprang on the low wall and peered eagerly among the trees. Turtur suratensis and T. risorius 

 perched about the branches in abundance, and — could I believe my eyes? — on a dry leafless 'matty' projecting 

 from a palmirah tree, and supporting the twigs of a nest, sat a pair of the lovely little T. humUis. There they 

 were, * billing and cooing/ in sweet but dangerous proximity, for the same shot laid them both dead at my feet, 

 and in another minute a native lad who had followed me brought down two shining, smooth, white eggs from 

 their nest. This was not the only pair in the tope, and I soon procured half a dozen specimens, and might have 

 killed as many more. An old head-man who was with me, and who had the reputation of being the best 

 sportsman in my district, assured me he had neither seen nor heard of this description of Pigeon before ; and 

 so said all present, some of them old men who had spent their lives in that neighbourhood. I had lived more 

 than a year in the district and kdled dozens of Doves without finding one ; nor did I ever after, though I often 

 shot along the cultivation at the edge of the plain, meet with them. Had they bred there that year only? 

 where did they come from? why did they select that lonely tope and keep so closely to it? I left the district 

 and never could learn, nor did I ever find any native who had met with them in other parts of the island. 

 Dr. Kelaart knew nothing of it, and only included it in his list on Mr. Blyth's authority, and I furnished the 

 latter with data ; so whether the little colony raised their young and departed, or breed there still, 'remains 

 an untold tale.'" 



Civil servants and others collecting in the north of Ceylon would do well to ascertain whether this Dove 

 ever visits the island now. 



Jerdon says that this species is " found throughout the whole of India to the foot of the Himalayas and 

 the Punjab, avoiding the Malabar forests and generally the jungly and hilly countries; and not very common 

 in Lower Bengal." These remarks appear to be very correct, for I do not find it recorded from either the 

 Travancore or Palani hills. Concerning the low country of the Carnatic we have no recent information; but 

 we know that Hermann's specimen came from Tranquebar, on the coast of that part which runs due north on 

 the Indian side of Palk's Straits ; and thence it probably visited Ceylon via Point Cabmere. It is common in 

 the Deccan, and found in the Ahmednagar district in flocks in the cold season. Further north on the same 

 side of the peninsula it is recorded by Captain Butler as common in the plains round Mount Aboo, and met 

 with in most parts of the hills; at the Sambhur Lake Mr. Adam says it is plentiful, breeding there throughout 

 the year. Writing of the north of India, Mr. Hume remarks that it is very capriciously distributed. " It is 

 common," he says, "in some dry well-cultivated districts like Etawah, where there are plenty of old mango- 

 groves. It is very common in some of the comparatively humid tracts like Bareilly, and again in the sal- 

 jungles of the Kumaon Bhabur and the Nepal Terai ; on the other hand, over wide extents of similar country 

 it is scarcely to be seen." Mr. Ball records it from Sambalpur and Orissa to the north of the river Mahanadi, 

 and bkewise from Lohardugga and Manbhum; while writing of Chota Xagpur generally, he says that it is 

 found throughout the province, and most common in Sirguja. In Furreedpore, east of Calcutta, it is far 

 from common, according to Mr. Cripps, although a resident species. 



