COLUMBID^} . TYMPANISTEIA 177 



land — Mangwato, December (Ayres), Tati, September (Gates); 

 Ehodesia— near Victoria Falls, September (S. A. Mus), Mashona- 

 land, scarce (Marshall) ; German South-west Africa— throughout, 

 most abundant in Great Namaqualand (Andersson and Fleck) ; 

 Portuguese East Africa — Chicowa on the Zambesi (Alexander). 



Habits. — The Namaqua Dove is a most abundant and familiar 

 bird in the interior of the country, and is generally to be seen in the 

 neighbourhood of farm houses, probably because food and water are 

 to be found in the vicinity. 



From the dates of collection it appears to be probable that this 

 Dove is only a summer migrant to the greater part of the country, 

 though apparently resident in German territory and the western 

 Transvaal. It is a purely ground-feeding bird and runs very rapidly, 

 so that it was frequently mistaken by Layard for a rat ! it feeds 

 entirely on grain and grass seeds, and has a deep plaintive " coo." 

 The males will coquet with any female they meet, and are described 

 by Layard as very salacious. The nest is usually placed in a mimosa, 

 not very high above the ground, sometimes, however, on the ground 

 or in a hole ; it is the usual carelessly built loose platform of the 

 Family, made of sticks and fibrous roots ; the clutch consists of two 

 oval eggs equally rounded at both ends. These are white, rosy 

 tinted when fresh, owing to the yoke shinning through the fine 

 smooth shell ; when blown they have a slight greenish tinge. They 

 measure -80 x '60. 



Genus V. TYMPANISTRIA. 



Type. 

 Tympanistria, Beichenb. Nat. Syst. Vog. p. xxv. (1852) ... T. bicolor. 



Bill moderate, the horny tip shorter than the swollen base ; 

 wings slightly rounded, the third and fourth quills the longest, the 

 difference between these and the longest secondaries barely equal to 

 the length of the tarsus ; first quill very peculiar, strongly attenuated 

 for its terminal third ; tail moderate, shorter than the wing, some- 

 what rounded ; metallic patches present on the wings ; sexes differ- 

 ing slightly. 



This genus contains only one species, confined to the Ethiopian 

 region, including Madagascar. 



12 VOL. IV. 



