COLUMBID^ TUBTUECENA 165 



Some four species, all confined to Africa, have been described ; 

 one, the type of the genus, is found in South Africa. 



633. Turturoena delagorguei. Delagorgue's Pigeon. 



Columba delagorguei, Delagorgue, Voy. Afr. Austr. ii, p. 615 (1847) ; 

 Gtorneij, J6is, 1864, p. 354 [Natal] ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 257 (1867). 



Turturoena delagorguei, Shelley, Ibis, 1883, p. 289 ; Sharpe, ed. 

 Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 563 (1884) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. M. xxi, 

 p. 328, pi. ix, figs. 1, 2, (1893) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 135 (1896) ; Wood- 

 ward Bros. Natal B. p. 131 (1899) ; Beichenoiv, Vog. Afr. i, p. 417 

 (1901). 



Description. Male. — Head, cheeks, and nape dark slate with 

 green and pink metallic reflections, which are most conspicuous on 

 the nape ; between the nape and the mantle a crescent-shaped mark 

 of white ; rest of the mantle and wing dark crimson, shading into 

 slaty-black on the lower coverts, shoulders and quills ; rump, upper 

 tail-coverts and tail also slaty, becoming almost black on the tail, 

 except for a narrow apical band, which is again paler ; below slaty- 

 grey throughout, the breast washed with pink gloss. 



Iris dark brown, bill ashy, bare skin round eye, legs and feet 

 dark pink. 



Length 12-0; wing 6'75 ; tail 5-0 ; tarsus -90 ; culmen -65. 



In the female the forehead is slaty-grey, the crown and nape 

 rufous-red with pink and green metallic reflections, which extend on 

 to the slaty upper part of the mantle ; the rest of the upper surface, 

 including the wings and tail, dark slaty-black ; below grey, very 

 finely freckled with a yellowish- brown throughout. Dimensions 

 about the same as the male but a little smaller. Length 11-5 ; 

 wing 6-75 ; tail 4-5. 



Distribxition. — This Pigeon was first discovered and described 

 by M. Delagorgue, a French naturalist and sportsman, in the 

 neighbourhood of Durban ; it has since been obtained by Ayres 

 and Millar in the same neighbourhood, but it appears to be 

 uncommon. The Woodwards obtained a single specimen, now 

 in the South African Museum, in the Ungoye Forest in Zululand. 

 No other South African locality is known. Two species, however, 

 (T. sharpei and T. harterti), have recently been described from the 

 neighbourhoods of Mount Elgon and Mount Kilimanjaro respec- 

 tively, which seem to be very closely allied to the Natal bird. 



Habits. — Practically nothing is known of the habits of this bird ; 



