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COLUMBA RUPESTRIS.
Mongolian Rock-Pigeon.
Goliimba anas, var. S. rupestris, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-As., i. p. 560.
rupestris, Bp. Consp. Gen. A y . , ii. p. 48.—Gray, List of Columbus, 1856, p. 20. Swinh. P. Z. S., 1863, p.
306.—Jerdon, B. I n d . , |» p. 470.-S w in h . P. Z. S., 1870, p. 434,1871, p. 307.-G r a y , Hand-list B , ii.
p. 232.—Taczan. J. f. O., 1873, p. 97.
-----------leucozonura, Swinh. Ibis, 1861, p. 259.
rupicola, Hume, Lahore to Yarkand, p. 273.
T h i s is the eastern representative of the Rock-Pigeon of Europe (Columba laid), whieh it replaces through,
out Eastern Asia. Severtzoff has procured it in Turkestan, and, during the first Yarkand Expedition, Dr.
Henderson met with it in Ladak. “ One specimen,” he writes, “ of this species was procured at Le on the
4th of July, where enormous flocks of Pigeons were observed; but it was not at the time discriminated, and it
is not certain whether these colonies consisted entirely of this species, or whether other species were intermingled
in the flock.” t
Regarding its distribution in India, Dr. Jerdon observes that it was procured by Major Boys m Kumaon,
“ where it is known as the Pale Bine Rock-Pigeon. It is also, perhaps, as suggested by Blyth, the Hill.
Pigeon of Mussooree, which is said in summer to fly in small flocks to the Deyra Doon in the morning,
returning to the hills in the evening; and it is certainly the pied variety of the Blue Pigeon observed by
Adams in Ladak.” Commenting on the above passage Mr. Hume remarksg-“ This species never
occurs near Massuri, nor in any other part of the Himalayas, to the best of my belief, below 12,000 feet. ’
Pallas originally discovered this Rock-Pigeon in Dauria, and there is a specimen in the British Museum
from the same locality. Dr. Dybowski says that in Eastern Siberia it “ lives in a semidomesticated condition,
nesting in the roofs of houses and in clefts and fissures of the rocks. It breeds more than once in
the year, and the males court the hen birds all the year round. The latter begin to nest in February, and
finish in September. The •coo' of the male is somewhat different from that of the European Rock-Dove,
and the flight more rapid, so that the Sparrow-Hawk cannot overtake it. In the villages Cats, and among
the rocks the large Eared Owl ( Bulo siiiricus), create the greatest ravages among them."
Pere David met with the species in Thibet; and Mr. Swinhoe gives its habitat as “ North China " in his
latest list. The latter gentleman, in his paper entitled “ Zoological Notes of a Journey from Canton to
Peking and Kalgan,” writes as f o l l o w s “ On the 6th of July we visited a large cave about a mile from our
temple. It is on the side of a low hill which stands alone. Its mouth is about 20 feet in diameter, opening
into an abyss floored with broken rocks, among which water has collected. Its internal dimensions are large;
but it offers no means of entrance. Along the walls of its interior the rock was broken into shelves; and
here the Rock-Pigeon (C. rupestris, Bp.) resorted in hosts to rear its young, and find a cool retreat from the
noonday sun. A shout and a few stones thrown in brought them out in swarms.” Again, in his account
o f the “ birds observed about Talien Bay,” Mr. Swinhoe describes the present bird as C. leucowmra, and
o b s e r v e s “ This Rock-Pigeon, at once distinguishable from C. Ima by its white tail-band, its purple breast,
and the reversion of the resplendent tints that adorn the neck, is found in immense numbers in Talien Bay,
where the precipitous rocks abounding in dark limestone caverns afford it a safe retreat and present it with
cradles for. the rearing o f its young. The caverns these birds generally choose were dark and uuwholesome-
looking, with the damp trickling from the roof. In these places out of arm's reach the Pigeons chose
rocky ledges to place their stick-built nests on ; rude constructions they generally were. You never watched
long before seeing some bird either going or returning with food. They mostly went on these excursions
several together, and dashing by with rapid flight, made for the fields o f newly-planted grain, into which they
would drop and commence to search for food. On our first landing we found no difficulty in approaching to
within a few yards; but they very soon learnt to dread the gun. The ships of war that visited this bay
during early spring, report these birds as wandering about the country, associated in immense flocks. One
officer, I was informed, brought down thirteen at one shot.”
I may, in conclusion, remark that Professor Schlegel considers the present species to be only one of the
many varieties of the ordinary C. lima-, and, in his lately published list of the Coluinbie in the Leiden
Museum (p. 64), he mentions specimens from Lake Baikal, Amoy, and Japan; but he says nothing to
indicate that they are C. rupestris, excepting in the case of the Baikal examples.
The figure in the Plate is life-sized.