154 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



of the performance. Thus, all the Turtle-doves^ 

 when bowing, keep their tail closed, not spreading, 

 it as the pigeon does, though they have just as much, 

 if not more, reason for doing so, as the closure 

 prevents the light side feathers from being seen. 



The Turtle-doves, however, may well be tenacious 

 of their customs, for they are a prosperous clan, 

 albeit confined to the Old World, and mostly to the 

 warmer parts thereof ; but their conjugal and parental 

 devotion enables them to increase rapidly in spite 

 of individual feebleness and small broods, and 

 wherever they occur they are common birds as a rule. 

 Only a few migrate, but our only English species,^ 

 the traditional and original Tuitle-dove {Turtur 

 communis), is a thriving migrant which is continually 

 extending its range northward. The Spotted Dove 

 is a short- winged bird compared with this and is one 

 of our resident and most characteristic birds in India ; 

 in Burma its place if taken by a very near ally, the 

 Malay Spotted Dove {Turtur Hgrinus), which is less 

 distinctly spotted, while further east, in C!hina, we 

 get another species (Turtur chinensis) which is not 

 spotted at all, although it bears -a black-and-white 

 tippet like the other two. 



Another Dove that may sometimes, but not often, . 

 be met with in Calcutta is the Ring-dove {Turtur 

 risorius), a bird very like the tame Dove, but drab' 



