488 . RESEARCH IN CHINA. 
Columba domestica GMELIN. Blue Rock-pigeon. 
Columba domestica GMELIN: Syst. Nat., I, part 2, 769, 1788. 
We saw this bird only in Shan-si and in the valley of the Wei-ho. Although it is not 
absent from the mountains, it is much more abundant among the villages and cultivated 
fields of the valleys and lowlands. 
Turtur decaocta (FRIVALDSKY). Indian Ring-dove. 
Columba decaocta FrivaLpsky: Balkdnyi Természet. Utazdsrél, 1838, 30, pl. 8 (Balkan region). 
In the northeastern provinces this is the commonest species of the genus. It remains 
during the winter in small numbers, at least as far north as Peking. Like the rock-pigeon, 
the ring-dove was not observed in the Ts’in-ling mountains; but in the extreme southern 
part of the province we saw certain individuals which appeared to belong to this species. 
It is a bird of the villages, making its nest in the poplars or in the small cedars which the 
Chinese usually plant near their graveyards. 
Specimen No. 6006. Collected October 30, 1903, at Ch’ang-hia, Shan-tung. 
Turtur chinensis (Scopo.i). Chinese Turtle-dove. 
Columba chinensis Scopout: Del. Fl. et Faun. Insubr., 11, 94, 1786 (China). 
Either this bird has a more pronounced migratory habit than the last, or else its habitat 
is normally farther to the west, for with the exception of one individual seen during January 
in west Chi-li, we saw none of them until we reached the province of Shan-si. It happened, 
however, that we arrived there at the opening of spring and the facts may be explained 
by this coincidence. Even in Shan-si we saw few birds of this species, and in the Wei 
valley it was scarcely common. Although we observed none in the Ts’in-ling mountains, 
we found them again in the valleys of the Han and its larger tributaries. 
The wine-red breast and spotted neck of this dove make it one of the most beautiful 
of those found in China. It may be readily distinguished from the other two species here 
mentioned, by the broad white margin on the tail which is rendered conspicuous when the 
bird is in flight. 
Turtur orientalis (LATHAM). Rufous Turtle-dove. 
Columba orientalis LATHAM: Index Ornith., 11, 606, 1790 (China). 
This form very largely replaces the other two species south of the valley of the Wei-ho. 
It is a common species in the Ts’in-ling mountains and thence southward at least as far as 
the Yang-tzi river. 
Specimen No. 6045. Collected April 18, 1904, in the foothills of the Ts’in-ling 
mountains, near Hei-shui-k’ou. 
PHASIANIDZA. 
Coturnix (?) sp. Quail. 
A very small quail, evidently of this genus, was seen on several occasions in the moun- 
tains near Féu-p’ing, Chi-li. The birds were always encountered singly in sheltered nooks, 
high up in the heads of the valleys. The natives call this bird ‘‘Ngan-ch’un,’”’ which 
means ‘‘quail.” 
Caccabis chukar (Gray). Chukar Partridge. 
Perdix chukar Gray: Ill. Ind. Zool., 1, 1830, pl. 54 (India). 
We found this partridge common in the mountains of Shan-si and Chi-li, during the 
winter, and also met with it occasionally in central Shan-tung. It appears to be common 
wherever there is sufficient shelter, but in the eastern provinces the inhabitants destroy 
the grass on the mountain slopes each year, and so render the place unfavorable for the 
habitation of such birds. Its favorite haunts are brushy mountainsides, in the sparsely 
