302 



saw flocks of fully 150 individuals. He also states (Rech. Zool. Transcasp. p. 102) that it is more 

 frequently met with on the plains than in the mountains, and occurs along the Atrek between 

 Jagly-Oloum and Douslou-Oloum, on the banks of the Douchak, the Tedgend, and the Central 

 Murghab, in the Pinde and Merv oases, and is often to be seen amongst the ruins of ancient 

 Merv, but more seldom along the Alikhanow canal. 



Mr. Blanford remarks (E. Persia, ii. p. 269) that he did not notice any Stock-Doves in Persia ; 

 but Sir O. St. John shot them on the Persian plateau, and Mr. Blanford considers it probable 

 that they belonged to the present species, which I think will prove to be the case, as Columba 

 cenas probably does not occur there. Sir O. St. John obtained a female near Kandahar in April ; 

 and Dr. Aitchison found it nesting in considerable numbers on trees in the bed of the Hari-rud 

 River in Afghanistan. 



Dr. Severtzoff met with it in Turkestan ; Russoff (Rev. Turk. Orn. p. 45) obtained both birds 

 and eggs at Tschinas early in May ; and the brothers Grum-Grzimailo procured a single specimen 

 from Otun-tasy-tschan in the Bei-scham mountain-range. 



Dr. Scully records it from Eastern Turkestan, and says (Stray Feathers, iv. p. 176): "This 

 Pigeon was first obtained in a large clump of poplars (Populus balsamifera) at Taskhama in 

 June. There they were in great numbers, but so wild that it was difficult to get specimens ; I 

 shot two young birds however, so that there can be no doubt about this species breeding in 

 Eastern Turkestan. In August, again, at Yak-Shamba Bazar, I shot a couple of these birds in a 

 clump of poplars and saw many about. The Yarkandis say that this species always haunts 

 Toghrak (poplar) jungles, and that the nest is always placed on those trees." 



Dr. Henderson shot a male on the 8th October at Chagra, above the Pangong Lake, at an 

 elevation of 16,000 feet, when on the expedition from Lahore to Yarkand, and, according to 

 Mr. A. O. Hume (Lah. to Yark. p. 271), it visits the plains of Upper India in large flocks during 

 the cold season, but rarely wanders more than 150 miles from the foot of the hills. They take 

 up their residence, he says, in some clump of trees near some pond or tank, often in the close 

 vicinity of villages, and there they roost at night, and in the early morning and at dusk are to be 

 seen clustered thickly on the topmost boughs ; during the day not a bird is to be seen, the whole 

 colony dispersing far and wide over the country in pairs, or in little parties of from three to 

 seven. They come in November and disappear towards the end of March. 



Northward this Pigeon ranges up to Siberia; and there is a specimen in the British Museum 

 obtained by Dr. O. Finsch in Western Siberia in March. According to Taczanowski (I. c.) the 

 only record of its occurrence in Eastern Siberia is on the authority of the elder Gmelin, who, 

 as stated by Pallas, obtained one killed late in August in the forest near Krasnoyarsk, on the 

 Yennesei River. 



In general habits the present species does not appear to differ from our European Stock- 

 Dove, of which it is an eastern form, and, like that species, it nests both on trees and in holes in 

 the ground. 



According to Mr. Zarudny it is frequently found breeding in colonies of about fifty pairs, 

 the nests being placed in holes and cracks in the steep river-banks. The nest is a slight structure 

 or lining of dry grass and fine twigs, and the number of eggs is two, these latter being white and 

 similar to those of Columba cenas, only rather smaller. He found fresh eggs near Kara-Bend late 



