52 



Europe, being replaced in North Africa by a nearly allied tbough fairly separable form, the 

 Turtur decipiens, Finsch & Hartl. 



In Turkey, the only portion of Europe proper where it is found, it is very common in some 

 parts. Dr. Finsch met with it in the villages in Bulgaria ; and in Constantinople it is found not 

 uncommonly. Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor states (Ibis, 1864, p. 410) that he met with a few pairs 

 among the cypress trees in the seraglio-gardens in Stamboul ; and Messrs. Elwes and Buckley 

 say (Ibis, 1870, p. 201) that it "inhabits most of the towns and villages in the south of Turkey, 

 and remains all the winter. In Constantinople it is especially numerous, and also in some of tbe 

 Macedonian villages which are interspersed with trees and gardens. It appears to love the 

 neighbourhood of dwellings, and may be seen sitting, like a Sparrow, on the roofs of the houses, 

 where it is never molested by the Turks. It breeds in the cypresses, which almost universally 

 adorn a Turkish graveyard, and in the immense old plane trees in the bazaars." It is said to be 

 common throughout Asia Minor, there, as in Turkey, frequenting inhabited places ; and Mr. E. C. 

 Taylor remarks (I. c.) that he met with it in considerable numbers in the Turkish graveyards near 

 Smyrna. In Palestine, Canon Tristram writes (1868, p. 211), it is " a permanent resident round 

 the Dead Sea, but only in small numbers in winter, when it is shy and wary. In spring its 

 numbers are largely increased, and it spreads itself through the greater part of the country, up 

 to Mount Tabor, and breeds everywhere in trees and bushes, generally living in small flocks of 

 eight or twelve together. 



It appears to be of but rare occurrence in Persia, where, Mr. Blanford states, he never 

 observed it ; but Major St. John saw a pair in captivity at Isfahan, which, he was told, had been 

 taken from a nest in a garden near there. In Baluchistan, however, Mr. Blanford found it not 

 rare ; and Mr. A. O. Hume says that it is very common throughout Sindh. According to 

 Dr. Jerdon (B. of Ind. ii. p. 482) the present species is " generally diffused throughout India, 

 frequenting hedges and trees in the neighbourhood of cultivation, and also low bush or reed- 

 jungle. It is found in Ceylon, but is rare in Malabar, and generally in forest-country ; and it 

 appears not to occur in Arrakan, nor in the countries to the east of the Bay of Bengal. Layard 

 notices its partiality for Euphorbia bushes, in which, he says, it generally builds its nest. Blyth 

 states that it inclines to be more gregarious than our other Doves, but less so than Turtur meena. 

 Like the other Doves, it breeds in the plains at all seasons, but also, it appears, ascends the hills 

 near Mussooree to breed." To this I may add that Captain Feilden has obtained it in Upper 

 Pegu, and it occurs as far east as Japan. It was also obtained on the Kashgar expedition ; and 

 the birds brought from there seem to be, as a rule, rather larger than those in the plains of 

 India. Mr. A. O. Hume wishes to make a distinct species of the Kashgar bird, and calls it (I. c.) 

 Turtur stoliczkce. I have not had an opportunity of examining a specimen from there; but, 

 judging from the series of specimens of Turtur risorius I have examined, and from Mr. Hume's 

 description, I cannot believe that he is justified in making a new species. The characters on 

 which he bases his species are larger size, a broader nuchal collar more broadly margined with 

 white, and a larger amount of white on the lateral tail-feathers — all of which I find very variable 

 in the specimens I have examined ; for they all differ, more or less, in size, in the breadth of the 

 nuchal collar, and in the amount of white on the tail. The size he gives of his specimen of 

 T stoliczkce is — wing 7*35, tail 6 - 2, against Dr. Jerdon's measurements of the Indian bird, of 



