488 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Cumberland, breeds eastern half Yorks. so far north as Ripon and 

 Whitby. Northwards irregular migrant, but has bred Durham. 

 Scotland and Ireland. — Summer- and autumn -visitor. Occurs on 

 passage most parts Scotland, and northern and even western isles, 

 but does not breed. In Ireland regular, but scarce, visitor to south 

 coast, a vagrant to other maritime counties, and rare vagrant 

 inland, chiefly May and June, less frequently autumn, once Nov. 30, 

 and said to have bred two or three times. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Europe from southernmost Scandinavia 

 (rare) and northern Russia to Mediterranean, Madeira, Canaries, 

 and westernmost Asia ; in winter in north Africa, south to Abys- 

 sinia and Red Sea. Casual Fseroes. Replaced by allied races in 

 north Africa, mountains of Sahara, Egypt, Nubia, Libyan desert, 

 Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan to Palestine. 



STREPTOPELIA ORIENTALIS 



364. Streptopelia orientalis orientalis (Lath.) — THE EASTERN 

 RUFOUS TURTLE-DOVE. 



Columba orientalis Latham, Ind. Orn., n, p. 606 (1790 — China. Ex 



Sonne rat). 



Turtur orientalis (Latham), Saunders, p. 487. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter and summer. — 

 Fore-head ashy, fore-part of crown grey-blue, rest of crown and 

 nape vinaceous-brown tinged grey ; on each side of neck patch of 

 black feathers as in Turtle-Dove but tipped darker grey-blue and 

 not wirite ; upper -mantle dark vinaceous-brown ; lower -mantle 

 black-brown, feathers tipped rufous ; scapulars same but more 

 •conspicuously tipped and edged rufous ; back and rump dark 

 slate-blue, feathers with blackish centres ; upper tail-coverts black- 

 brown tipped slate and often some rufous ; sides of head brownish- 

 grey ; chin and upper -throat pale buff, often whitish ; rest of throat 

 and breast vinaceous almost obscuring grey basal portion of 

 feathers ; belly paler and vent ashy ; under tail-coverts ash-grey ; 

 flanks, axillaries and under wing-coverts slate-blue ; tail-feathers 

 black tinged grey and broadly tipped blue -grey, central pair 

 browner and narrowly tipped, outer pair with most of outer web 

 ash-grey ; primaries brown-black very narrowly edged and tipped 

 whitish often with rufous tinge, inner primaries and secondaries 

 rather more broadly tipped and edged ash-grey ; primary-coverts 

 brown-black, very narrowly tipped grey-white ; most of greater 

 wing-coverts and some outer median and lesser tipped and edged 

 grey-blue, innermost greater coverts and secondaries and rest of 

 wing-coverts edged and tipped rufous paler on outer part of wing- 

 coverts and darker as scapulars on inner. This plumage is acquired 

 by complete moult June-Dec. (2 examined moulting Mar. and 

 April). N.B. — In worn plumage nape, mantle and breast become 

 browner and less vinaceous, rufous edges to feathers of upper- 

 parts much narrower and on wing-coverts paler. 



