COLUMBID&. 487 
THE RUFOUS TURTLE-DOVE. 
TURTUR ORIENTALIS (Latham). 
At a meeting of the Zoological Society held on May 6th 1890, 
the late Mr. Seebohm exhibited a bird of this species which, 
according to a letter from Mr. J. Backhouse, had been obtained 
near Scarborough on October 23rd 1889; at the same time and 
place that a Red-breasted Flycatcher was shot (Pr. Z. S. 1890, p. 
361). Through the kindness of Mr. Backhouse and the authorities 
of the York Museum, I have recently examined this Turtle-Dove, 
which is a bird of the year, and is the counterpart of one from the 
mouth of the Amur, in Eastern Siberia, shot on October 13th, and 
now in the British Museum (Natural History). 
A young bird of this species was found in December 1842 among 
some game from Herjeadale in North Sweden; and in October 
1850 a similar example was caught alive near Pited, in lat. 65? N. 
The latter was sent to Stockholm in 1851 and lived, under the care 
of W. Meves, the well-known curator, until 1853, when, having 
attained its full plumage, it was “‘made into a specimen.” In Asia, 
the Rufous Turtle-Dove is found from the base of the Eastern 
Himalayas to Central India, Assam, Tipperah, North Burma, China 
and Japan; also in Manchuria, and in Southern Siberia from the 
mouth of the Amur to the Upper Yenesei. 
This bird is the Z: meena of many writers on the birds of India, 
where breeding seems to take place from December to April. The 
eggs are oval, white and glossy: measurements 1‘15 in. by ‘9 in. 
The adult male is larger than our Turtle-Dove, and has the black 
feathers on the sides of the neck tipped with bluish-grey instead of 
white ; the breast and also the belly distinctly vinaceous ; the rump 
slate-blue ; the under tail-coverts and the terminal band of the tail- 
feathers lavender-grey. Length 13 in., wing 7-4 in. The female is 
rather smaller. The young bird has no neck-patches, and its upper 
parts are duller in colour, but the rump is distinctly slate-blue. 
Five examples of the American Passenger-Pigeon, Lctopistes 
migratorius, have been shot in the British Islands, but it may 
reasonably be doubted whether any of them had crossed the 
Atlantic in a wild state. At least one of these had evidently been 
in captivity, while it is notorious that, from 1830 onwards, many have 
been brought over and turned loose in this country. 
