262 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3. 



T. seneg-alensis, (L. : Col. cambaiensis, Gmelin ; C. cegyptiaea ? Lath. ; 

 C. maculicollis ? Wagler). Two specimens from Abyssinia differ from all 

 the Indian we have seen, in having the colours distinctly broken on the 

 scapularies, and more or less on the back ; the scapularies being of a dull 



Hebrews from the Egyptians. The breadth of its black semi-collar points to an 

 African rather than to an Indian origin. There can be little doubt that it is the 

 " Turtle-dove" of our English version of the Pentateuch, repeatedly mentioned 

 as the equivalent of a " young Pigeon" for a burnt-offering, — "a pair of Turtle- 

 doves or two young Pigeons," — and that it was abundantly propagated in cages as 

 at present, and, therefore, always available. That our Indian T. risorius is not 

 (as currently supposed) the wild type of this domestic breed is indicated, firstly, 

 by its very different voice or coo, — secondly, by its larger size, reversing the usual 

 rule with domestic animals, and with the generality of tame Pigeons in particular, 

 — and thirdly (as remarked before), the domestic Collared Turtle-dove has always 

 a much broader black semi-collar than T. risorius, in which it accords with the 

 three wild races found in Africa. Of the latter, the Cape species (T. vinaceus), 

 and equally the Malayan (T. bitorq,uatus), may at once be set aside, for geogra- 

 phical reasons alone, besides that there are other objections : and of the two that 

 remain, T. semitorquatus agrees best in size, and also in having white lower 

 tail-coverts ; but the tail is more squared, and the feathers composing it are 

 considerably broader, while the black bill seems to be a further objection. Com- 

 parison of voice would of course assist the enquiry. To the best of our judgment, 

 not one of the five accords sufficiently ; and the genuine wild type may yet remain to 

 be discovered, in another equally affined wild species, of which there may be several 

 yet undescriminated. The tame breed is very true to its particular colouring, ex- 

 cept when pure white, and the white are often matched with the ordinary blonde or 

 cream-coloured Doves, producing an intermediate or pallid offspring : but the cream- 

 colour has a decided look of domesticity, and is unlikely to have been the original 

 hue. Mr. Selby assures us that " a mixed breed is often obtained between it and 

 the common wild Turtle-dove" of Britain (T. auritus) ; " but the progeny are 

 invariably mules and incapable of further increase, — a fact that has been estab- 

 lished by many careful and oft-repeated experiments." Jardine's Nat. Libr., 

 Columbidm, p. 172. The same experiments might easily be tried with the Indian 

 T. risorius ; only in this instance the affinity is undoubtedly closer. 



(P. S. — Since the above was in type, we have seen the Prince of Canino's Coup 

 d' CEil sur les Pigeons, published in the ' Comptes Rendus' for 1854-5, and especially 

 his remarks on the Turtle-doves (1845, pp. 15, 16). The particular subgroup of 

 T. risorius and its affines is designated by his Highness Streptopelia ; and he 

 refers to it four species from Africa, and five from Asia and its dependencies. The 

 domesticated race is assigned (as currently) to T. risorius. To judge from Dr. 

 Ruppell's figure, however, we should have referred the Abyssinian T. lugens to 



