694 
PALUMBUS TOEEINGTOXI^, 
♦ 
«- 
Carpophaga torrmgtonn{Ke\.), Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 59. 
Talumhus torringtonm (Kel.), Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 466; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 25. 
Lady Torrington’s Pigeon, Kelaart ; Pine Pigeon, PlacJc Pigeon, Wood-Pigeon, Coffee-planters. 
Mila-goya {goya being the name for Pigeon), Sinhalese in Central Province; Mahavillagoya, 
apud Layard. 
Ad. supra pulchre sehistaceo-niger: interscapulio lilascenti-vinaceo, dorsi snmmi phitnis vix quoque lilacino aclumbratis • 
teetrieibus alarum dorso coucoloribus : remigibus brunneis, schistaceo extus lavatis, secundarHs intimis dorso con- 
coloribus, primarns anguate pallidiore brunneo limbatis : capite undique vinaceo, colli postiei iugulique plumis 
vindi nitentibus, dims plumis albo termmaliter maculatis ; corpore reliquo subtiis pulchru lilascenti-vinaceo sub- 
cauclalibus longionbus schistaceo-nigris, rehquis vinaceis ad basin schistaceis : subalaribus et axillaribus schistaceo- 
nigris : rostro pallide cajrulesceute, ad basin plumbescente : pedibus carnescenti-albis, tarso antico rubescente • 
inde pallide rubra, plaga orbitali carnea. 
Adult male Length 13-5 to 14-3 inches; wing 7-7 to 8-0; tail 5-25; tarsus 1-1 ; middle toe 1-2, its claw (straight) 
0-4 ; bill to gape 1-1. ^ ’ 
Ins pale red; orbital skin pink; bill, basal half plumbeous, the apical or corneous portion bluish; tarsus in front and 
top ot the toes red, posterior tarsus and sides of toes with the soles paler ; claws fleshy white. 
Head, nape, and upper throat vinaceous ashy, paling to albescent on the chin, and passing on the chest and under 
surface into a more vinous hue, which pales into reddish albescent on the belly, and passes round on the hind 
nediand upper part of interscapular region into fine reddish bronze, richly illumined with metallic green the head 
and fore neck being more faintly illumined with the same; a broad black demi-collar across the hind neck vrith 
white tips to the feathers ; rest of upper surface and wings bluish plumbeous, the tail blackish slate and the 
quills deep brown with fine light margins to the primaries ; under tail-coverts dark cinereous ashv, passing into 
reddish brown at the tips of the feathers. ^ ^ ^ 
Female. Length 13-2 inches ; wing 7-2 ; tail 5-0 ; tarsus 0'9 ; bill to gape I'O. 
Legs and feet not so red, with the posterior part of tarsus and sides of toes fleshy white. 
Head, chest, and under surface more ruddy than in the male, and the cupreous hue of the lower hind neck deener ■ 
under tail-coverts and flanks redder. ^ ’ 
Young. Birds of the year have the iris yellowish grey, with generally a narrower outer ring of pale red (the normal 
colour of the adnlt); bill dusky at the tips^ legs and feet dull red anteriorly, dusky fleshy behind. 
Upper surface ashy plumbeous ; forebead and face slightly ruddy ; neck-patch not developed, the feathers of the nuchal 
collar being blackish, with ashy-whitish tips, not pure white ; the metallic hues of the hind neck faintly developed • 
chest ruddy plumbeous ; the under surface vinaceous slaty, washed with fulvous-brown on the breast. Some 
examples have the wdng-coverts edged with rusty, and the chin and gorge more albescent than in the adult. 
hs. This fine Pigeon, which was at first considered to be a variety of the Nilghiri Woodchat, P. elfldmtoni, is closelv 
allied to that species, differing from it merely in the colour of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts which are 
cogoiper-colouT in the continental form. An example in the British Museum has the head slaty, .lith a slic^ht 
bronze tinge; the lower part of the hind neck, the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts are of a bronzed copper- 
coloqr ; tail not so “ slaty ” as in P. ton-ingtonice . ; throat greyish ; chest light slaty, tinged with green ; the breast 
ami lower parts iridescent slaty grey, wanting the vinaceous tint of the Ceylon bird ; the bill is stouter and the 
wing measuremont 8-7 and 8-5 inches respectively in two examples which 1 have measured. 
The genus Palwn^us is a somewhat limited one, comprising in India, besides the two species already noticed the 
Himalayan Cushat (P. casiotis, Bp.), which is the representative of the European Cushat, and the northern ally of 
the Nilghiri Wood-Pigeon, P. puV-JincoUis. The latter is a very handsome bird, differing from P. elpMmtoni 
chiefly in its brilliantly-coloured neck and also in its redder under surface. The feathers of the neck-patch are riodd 
black at the base, changing into reddish, and tipped with white. P. caaiotis differs from the “ Bimr-Dove ” 
ever, that this part of the world belongs to two distinct zoological regions— the Indian and the Australian ; and in these the 
Pigeons are very unequally distributed; for the western and larger portion (the Indo-Malayan subregion) contains nine 
genera and forty-three species, while the eastern and smaller portion (The Austro-Malayan subregion) has fifteen genera 
and eighty-four species. Here, therefore, the species ot Pigeons become more condensed and more varied than in any other 
part o. the globe : here i.s the focus of the order ; and it was probably from this part of the world that the original dispersal 
. 1 ?” ifu chiefly took place. This condensation is carried to its greatest height in New Guinea, in 
n 1 C , although only a few points on its coast have been idsited, no less than 25 species of Pigeons have been obtained.” 
