FOR THE PEOPLE FOK EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE ^Ujl^'; :3^ INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES / THE ASHY-HEADED GREEN PlGEON-05A!0/«i7eOA' P. fHAYHEl ^^ Nat. Size— Male on right, female on left.) p„„„.^,«p,pr.p INDIAN PIGEONS '^ AND DOVES BY E^ C. STUART BAKER '(rJ F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.o.rr. Avihor of "Indian Dttoks and their Allies." WITH TWENTY-SEVEN COLOURED PLATES FROM DRAWINGS BY H. GRONVOLD and G. E. LODGE. WITHERBY & CO. 326 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON 1913 Printed br WITHBUBY & CO. St their Printing Press in Middle Row Place, London "il-lfO^bO -Cct^^ PREFACE. My reasons for writing a volume upon our Indian Pigeons and Dovea are several, and I trust will be deemed sufiBcient by my readers. In the first place, there has as yet been no book published which deals with these most beautiful birds from the point of view of the Sportsman and Field-Naturalist as well as from that of the Scientific or Museiun -Naturalist, and as this is a gap in the records of our Indian Avifauna which badly needs filling, I may be forgiven for trying to bridge it. Skins — as skins — are, without doubt, full of interest, and especially so, perhaps, when the person studying them is more or less intimate with the life-histories of the birds themselves ; but Pigeons are well worthy of study in ways other than by dry skins. To the Field-Naturalist they are birds full of interest ; to the Aviculturist they are birds more charming and worthy of culture than has hitherto been generally admitted, and to the Sportsman they offer an object well worthy of attention, for he must have a quick eye, a sure hand, and considerable perseverance and patience before he has mastered their habits and is able to find them and, when foimd, bring them to bag. Books referring to Pigeons and Doves, of course, aboimd ; but they are difBcult of access and expensive to purchase. Volume XXI of the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, by Count Salvadori, is the standard work on these birds ; but one does not want twenty- seven volumes of a work, at a cost of something well over fifty pounds, for the sake of Pigeons only. In the same way, Blanford's Vol. IV of the Avifauna of British India deals with this family very thoroughly ; but the volimie is one of foiu", and contains much matter besides such as refers to the birds we are now considering ; and, moreover, it tells us but little about the Pigeon itself, except as a museum-specimen. Jerdon contains rather fuller accoimts, but, wonderful book as this still is, it was written nearly sixty years ago, and cannot but be somewhat out of date, aa well as being difficult to obtain. Hume's volumes of Stray Feathers have odd notes full of interest when one can find them, and in the same vi INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES way many other Natural History journals have references to Pigeons, but they also are scattered and difficult to find. Finally, so many of my friends and others have asked me to write a book on the Indian Pigeons, that I think there must be some groimds for hoping that a volume upon them wiU be kindly received. From a scientific point of view it is probable that this book will undergo considerable criticism, for it introduces for the first time into India the trinominal system — that is to say, the system which recognises subspecies. But India is essentially a country in which we find such a system necessary : for the variations in climate are so great, according to elevation, hvunidity, etc., that the same species in different locahties are bound to imdergo some degree of evolution which shall render them suitable to their surroundings. On the other hand, the variations so caused — ^though constant in definite areas — are often iodeterminate in the country which links these areas together, and which is itself often intermediate in character. Then again we find in India parallel evolution going on in districts very far apart. For instance, the httle Bustard-Quail (Turnix taijoor) in the dry area of Southern Burma nearly approaches the same form as that found in the drier portions of Central India. So too, with our Pigeons : we find our very first bird, the Bengal Green Pigeon, having well- defined variations occurring both in Burma and in Southern India, yet in the intervening countries many birds cannot be placed with certainty under either form. It would appear, also, that Pigeons and Doves are birds very susceptible to climatic variations, for we known that Beebe, one of the leading American Ornithologists, has obtained different specific phases of plumage in the same identical individual by merely trans- ferring it from a very dry area to others more and yet more humid. Grcographical variations I therefore accept as sufficient reason for the creation of subspecies as long as they are constant within a given area, though intermediate areas may be inhabited by inter- mediate forms. Broadly speaking, in giving geographical forms the status of sub- species, I have acted upon the following lines : When I have found differences in the plumage or in the size of birds, inhabiting different areas, which are quite plain to anyone's observation, I accept them as PREFACE vii constituting good species or subspecies, the former if they are not linked to one another by individuals which are intermediate, the latter if they are so linked. At the same time I have not gone out of my way to himt for minute differences in tint or in measurements, but have merely admitted them when they are too plain to be over- looked. In regard to nomenclature I have accepted the rules laid down by the latest International Zoological Congress and take my names according to strict priority and with effect from the date of the tenth edition of Linnaeus. In following accepted rules it is impossible to avoid tautonomy : I am therefore compelled to show the bird first described of the various subspecies with its specific name duphcated. Thus it is imperative to name the Bengal Green Pigeon Crocopus phvenicopterus phoenicopterus, instead of C. p. typicus, and the geographical variations or subspecies must be called C. p. viridifrons and C. p. chlorogaster. In classification generally I have adhered as closely as possible to that of Blanford in the Fauna of British India series, though this is, to some extent, altered by the use of the trinomial system and by the fact that a few other forms have had to be added to his list. An attempt has been made in the following chapters to collate, as far as possible, all information recorded up to date, and to add as many sporting and field notes as have been obtainable, together with a certain amount of original matter. Original matter, however, of this nature is very hard to obtain before a book is written, but it is to be hoped that once written and published readers will not be slow to become writers also and to add their quota of knowledge to that which has been previously recorded, whilst others may well be able to show where the present volume is incomplete or incorrect. The total number of species and subspecies dealt with in this work is fifty-one, Blanford having recognized forty-five of them as good species. The books referred to in the list of synonyms do not include all works of reference, for, as far as possible, only those have been noted which refer to the birds as occurring in India, with the addition from time to time of those which contain matter of importance to readers in India, such as the book in which the bird itself, or any- thing of importance concerning it, is first mentioned or described ; viii INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES references to the Ibis, the Zoological Proceedings, etc., have nearly all been omitted. On the other hand, as far as possible, full references have been given to Stray Feathers, the Asiatic Society's Records, the Bombay Natural History Society's Jourruil, and other Indian pubUcations. My thanks are especially due to Mr. OgUvie-Grant and the Staff of the Bird Section of the British Museum, for the use of the Bird" room and access to the skins therein, as well as for the constant courtesy shown me and help rendered, without which this book could never have been written. Finally, an apology is due to my readers for the egoism in the whole programme, but it is difficult to avoid this when writing upon a family of birds about which so little has as yet been recorded from a Sportsman's point of view. E. C. S. B. CONTENTS. PAOB Preface v List of Plates xi BlBLIOGEAPHY xiii 1. BengaA GTeen Pigeon (Crocoptts phoenicopterus phoenicopterus) ... 7 2. Buimese Green "Pigeon {Crocoptisphoemcopterusviridifrons) ... ... 18 3. Southern Green Pigeon {Crocopus phoenicopterus cMorogaster) ... 21 4. Ashy-headed Green Pigeon [Osmotreron pompadora phayrei) ... ... 27 5. Grey-iionted Green Pigeon (Osmotreron pompadwa a/finis) ... ... 37 6. Pompadour Green Pigeon (Osmotreron pompadora pompadora) ... 40 7. Andamanese Green Pigeon (Osmotreron pompadora chloroptera) ... 43 8. Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon (Osmotreron /mZotcoWjs) ... ... 46 9. Orange-breasted Green Pigeon (Osmo/rerow 6ismc