184 DOMESTIC PIGEONS. CjIAp _ yj 



they were found by Graba at Faroe ; and W. Thompson 12 says that at Islay 

 fully half the wild rock-pigeons were chequered. Colonel King, of Hythe 

 stocked his dovecot with young wild birds which he himself procured from 

 nests at the Orkney Islands; and several specimens, kindly sent to me by 

 him, were all plainly chequered. As we thus see that chequered birds 

 occur mingled with the true rock-pigeon at three distinct sites, namely 

 Faroe, the Orkney Islands, and Islay, no importance can be attached to 

 this natural variation in the plumage. 



Prince C. L. Bonaparte, 13 a great divider of species, enumerates, with a 

 mark of interrogation, as distinct from (J. livia, the C. turricola of Italy, the 

 0. rupestris of Daouria, and the 0. Schimperi of Abyssinia ; but these birds 

 differ from 0. livia in characters of the most trifling value. In the British 

 Museum there is a chequered pigeon, probably the C. Schimperi of Bona- 

 parte, from Abyssinia. To these may be added the 0. gymnocyclus of 

 G. B. Gray from W. Africa, which is slightly more distinct, and has 

 rather more naked skin round the eyes than the rock-pigeon ; but from 

 information given me by Dr. Daniell, it is doubtful whether this is a 

 wild bird, for dovecot-pigeons (which I have examined) are kept on the 

 coast of Guinea. 



The wild rock-pigeon of India (C. intermedia of Strickland) has been 

 more generally accepted as a distinct species. It chiefly differs in the 

 croup being blue instead of snow-white ; but as Mr. Blyth informs me, 

 the tint varies, being sometimes albescent. When this form is domes- 

 ticated chequered birds appear, just as occurs in Europe with the truly 

 wild 0. livia. Moreover we shall immediately have proof that the blue 

 and white croup is a highly variable character; and Bechstein 1 ' 1 asserts 

 that with dovecot-pigeons in Germany this is the most variable of all the 

 characters of the plumage. Hence it may be concluded that C. inter- 

 media cannot be ranked as specifically distinct from O. livia. 



In Madeira there is a rock-pigeon which a few ornithologists have 

 suspected to be distinct from C, livia, I have examined numerous speci- 

 mens collected by Mr. E. V. Harcourt and Mr. Mason. They are rather 

 smaller than the rock-pigeon from the Shetland Islands, and their beaks 

 are plainly thinner ; but the thickness of the beak varied in the several 

 specimens. In plumage there is remarkable diversity; some specimens 

 are identical in every feather (I speak after actual comparison) with the 

 rock-pigeon of the Shetland Islands; others are chequered, like 0. affinis 

 from the cliffs of England, but generally to a greater degree, being almost 

 black over the whole back; others are identical with the so-called 0. inter- 

 media of India in the degree of blueness of the croup ; whilst others have 

 this part very pale or very dark blue, and are likewise chequered. So 

 much variability raises a strong suspicion that these birds are domestic 

 pigeons which have become feral. 



12 ' Natural History of Ireland,' Birds, geons,' Comptes Eendus, 1854-55. 



vol. ii. (1850), p. 11. For Graba, see 14 ' Naturgesch. Deutsclilands,' Band 



previous reference. iv., 1795 s. 14. 



13 ' Ooup-d'oeil sur l'Ordre des Pi- 



