THE BR0N2E-WINGED DOVE 
Chalcopha^s ind'ica itidica (Linn. ) 
name: — Punai taiiali. 
By griving this ground-dove a chapter of its own in this 
book we recognise that it is otie of the really common birds of 
Singapore and frequently to be seen by the casual observer 
and thereby lay ourselves open to criticistn, for in truth very 
few people except the ardent naturalists have ever seen it on 
the island. While admittin-^ the force of this argument we 
maintain at the same time that any regular resident bird in the 
Botanic Gardens should be included with our birds entitled to 
* 'headings*^ and several of these little doves cenainly do live 
in the small patch of jungle Ijy the side of Cluiiy Road in the 
Gardens. They arc so excessively shy that they are rarely 
seen, but nevertheless they are there. One night we actually 
saw a pair, no doubt annoyed by the lig:ht opera liemg played 
by a militar>' band only a few himdred yards away, dash out 
of the undergrowth, fly very swiftly up the path and re-enter 
the thicket at the most remote end. Any bird that lives near 
enongh to us to be frightened by our public band must surely 
be written about here ! 
Description : — The male has the forehead and eye-stripe 
white, the top of the head bluish-grey, the neck and the 
underparts of a peculiar shade of piirjilish or pinki?h-brown 
and the wings and back bright metallic green : the rump is 
bluish-g-rey with darker bars. The tail is mostly dark brown 
but the outer feathers are grey with a broad black band at 
the end. There is a conspicuous whitish patch at the **bend" 
of the wing, The female is like the male in gtrneral appearatice 
but differs in detail. The underparts arc browner and less 
pinkish and the white forehead and grey crown are either but 
faintly indicated or replaced by brown, A few bluish feathers 
take the place of the white patch on the wing. 
The beak and legs are red, although they are not quite 
the same in colour, and the trides are brownish. 
[6i] 
