EASTERN WOOD-PIGEON 161 



Measurements. Length about 16 to 17 inches ( = 406.4 to 431.8 mm.) ; 

 wing from 9.6 to 10.35 in. ( = 243.8 to 262.8 mm.) ; tail from 5.5 to 6 in! 

 ( = 139.7 to 152.4 mm.) ; bill at front about .7 in. (17.7 mm.) and from gape 

 about 1.1 in. ( = about 28 mm.) ; tarsus a little over 1 in. { = 25.4 mm.). 



Adult female. The female of Palumbvs palumbus is said to be somewhat 

 duller in the colouring than the male, but I can see no difference between 

 the male and female of casiotis. 



Colours of soft -parts. As in the male with the exception that the irides 

 are never a bright yellow. 



Measurements. As in the male, but in life the two sexes can generally 

 be discriminated, the female being a lighter built, more slender bird, and 

 perhaps on an average a trifle smaller. 



Young of both sexes. Paler and more dull in coloration than the adult, 

 the purple and green gloss being practically absent and the neck-patches 

 entirely so until after the first autumn-moult. The edging to the feathers 

 of the wing is more pronounced and often bufl5sh in tint in the bird iu its 

 first plumage. The irides are very pale blue-brown. 



Distribution. The present bird replaces the European Wood-Pigeon 

 in south Persia and Turkestan ; in Afghanistan, Baluchistan at comparatively 

 low elevations, and the whole of the north-west Himalayas as far east as 

 Sikhim, extending into the Punjab and rarely into Sind in winter. It is 

 common in Kashmir, but is rare in Tibet, though I have records of its 

 occurrence from the better wooded parts about Gyantse and further north. In 

 the extreme north of Persia our Indian form is replaced by the European 

 Wood-Pigeon which is the resident form. 



Nidification. The Eastern Wood-Pigeon breeds throughout the greater 

 part of its range in the Himalayas from an elevation of some 2,500 to 12,000 ft. 

 or over, but there are certain areas in which it would seem never to nest. 

 Hume says that about Simla, Mussoorie, and Almorah they appear about 

 the beginning of November and stay until the middle of April, when they 

 depart for other quarters. Hutton and Wilson, Colonel Ward and others 

 all confirm this curious local migration, which is probably governed by its 

 food supply. In Chitral it must be a resident breeding species as Perreau 

 found it there in November, May, and again in July. In Kashmir it 

 undoubtedly breeds in suitable localities and Whitehead records that 

 " Mr. Douglas tells me that it nests freely near the Zera Kotal, above Shinauri 

 and north of the Samana. It also occurs in the Kurram Valley and probably 

 breeds there." 



Marshall, Cock, and later collectors have taken its eggs at and about 

 Murree ; Barnes and Wardlaw Ramsay took them in Afghanistan, where it 

 breeds in great numbers, and Colonel Unwin took its nest with two fresh 

 eggs in the Agrore Valley at an elevation of only 2,500 ft. 



It is a late breeder not commencing to lay until the end of May, 

 and most eggs will be found in the month of June and some well on 

 into early July. 



The nest is exactly like that of the English Wood-Pigeon, a mere platform 

 of sticks placed on a thick bush or small sapling and seldom if ever on big 

 trees. Marshall found them in the valley of the Jhelam breeding in 

 dense thorny jungles, but does not describe the actual sites of the two 

 nests obtained. 



The eggs are invariably two in number and similar to those of the 



M 



