Genus TURTUR or TURTLE DOVES. 



TypeTURTUR AURITUS. 



Turtur of Selby (1835).— The birds comprising the present 

 genus are characterised by their prevaihng brown and non- 

 metalhc plumage, by their more or less conspicuous black collar, 

 comparatively small size, and slender, graceful form. The wings 

 are long and rather pointed; the tail is composed of twelve feathers, 

 and is graduated. The tarsus is shorter than the middle toe, and 

 scutellated in front. The bill is slender ; nostrils basal, and 

 covered with two soft, tumid, bare substances. Three toes in 

 front, cleft to the base, one behind. 



This genus is composed of about twenty-five species, which 

 are confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the 

 southern Patearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, and the 

 Austro-Malayan division of the Australian region. Two species are 

 British, one a regular summer migrant, the other a rare straggler. 



The Turtle Doves are dwellers in woodland districts. They 

 are birds of sustained and powerful flight, and progress on 

 the ground by walking or running. Their notes are full and 

 soft, but with little pretension to variety or sweetness. They 

 subsist chiefly on grain and vegetable substances. Their nests 

 are slight platforms of twigs, placed in trees and bushes, and 

 their eggs, never more than two in number, are creamy white, and 

 oval. These birds pair for life. 



