COLUMBA INTERMEDIA, stncki.
Indian Rock-Pigeon.
Columba intermedia, Strickl. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xii. p. 39 (1844).—Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 130
(1852).—Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xiv. p. 59 (1854).—Reichenb. Vollst. Naturg. Tauben,
p. 57, pi. cxxxi. fig. 1249.—Gray, List Columbse Brit. Mus. p. 29 (1856).—Bp. Consp. ii. p. 48 (1857).—
Jerd. B . Ind. iii. p. 469 (1864).—Schomb. Ibis, 1864, p. 250.—Blytb, Ibis, 1867, p. 149.—Gray, Hand-1.
B. ii. p. 232 (1870).T-Swinh. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 39.6.—Holdsw. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1.872, p. 46.—
Hayes-Lloyd, Ibis, 1873, p. 414.—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 217.—Ball, op. cit. 1874, p. 425.—
id. 1875, p. 208.—Hume, Nests & Eggs Ind. Birds, p. 499 (1875).—Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 400.—Butler,
Str. Feathers, 1876, p. 3.—Fairb. tom. cit. p. 262.—Dresser, Ibis, 1876, p. 321.—David & Oustalet,
Ois. de la Chine, p. 384 (1877).—Hume, Str.. Feathers, 1878, pp. 16, 419.—Davison & Wenden, Str. F.,
1878, p. 86.—Ball. tom. cit. p. 224.—Cripps, tom. cit. p. 296.—Legge, Birds o f Ceylon, p. 698 (1879).
Columba livia, var., Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. p. 233 (1849).—Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Columbce, p. 63
(1873):
Columba anas, Burgess, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855, p. 234.
Columba livia, Adams (nec Linn.), Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859, p. 187.
It is doubtful whether the present species ought to be considered any thing more than a race of the ordinary
European Rock-Pigeon ( Columba lima) ; for it appears certain that intermediate forms are often met with.
The great difference between the European and the Indian bird consists in the absence of any white on the
rump of the latter. The Indian Rock-Pigeon seems to be widely distributed over the whole of the Indian
peninsula and Ceylon, extending into Scinde on the north-west, and as far east as Siam.
Dr. Jerdon writes:— “ The Blue Pigeon of India is one of the most common and abundant birds
throughout the country, congregating in large flocks, and breeding wherever they can find suitable spots.
They are most partial to large buildings, such as churches, pagodas, mosques, tombs, and the like,
frequently entering verandahs o f inhabited houses and building in the cornices. Holes in walls of cities or
towns, too, are favourite places; and in some parts o f the country they prefer holes in wells, especially, I
think, in the west o f India, the Deccan, &c. In default of such spots they will breed in crevices and
cavities of rocks, caverns, and sea-side cliffs; and I have often noticed that they are particularly partial to
rocky cliffs by waterfalls. The celebrated falls of Gaisoppa are tenanted by thousands o f Blue Pigeons,
which here associate with the large Alpine Swift It is more rare in forest countries generally than in the
open country. It extends from Ceylon throughout India to the Himalayas, and also to Assam, Sylhet, and
Burmah. It is doubtful if it occurs in Afghanistan, or in other parts of Central Asia. These Pigeons
are held in favour by most natives, and almost venerated by some; and if they build in the house of a
native, he considers it a most fortunate omen. They are, however, very destructive to grain, assembling in
vast flocks in the cold weather; and, in general, the natives do not object to their being shot. They are
undoubtedly the origin of most of the domestic Pigeons of India.”
Mr. Hume says that the breeding-season in India lasts from Christmas until May day, and observes as
follows:—“ The nest is chiefly composed of thin sticks and twigs, but is often more or less lined with
leaves of the tamarisk, feathers, &c.................................... When undisturbed, they will breed in incredible
multitudes. At the grand old fort o f Deig, in Bhurtpoor, where, as in most parts of Rajpootana, they are
sacred and even a European who molested them would risk his life, several hundred thousand pairs must
live and breed; a gun fired on the moat towards evening raises a dense cloud, obscuring utterly the waning
day, and deafening one with the mighty rushing round of countless strong and rapidly-plied pinions.”
Captain Legge, who has given a very full account o f the distribution and habits o f this species in his
‘ Birds of Ceylon,’ publishes the following note:— “ In Ceylon the Blue Rock-Pigeon is essentially an inhabitant
of out-of-the-way, wild, and little-frequented spots; the country does not, like India, abound in
inland walled towns, temples, and pagodas, which there, are the natural resort of this species; and it is
consequently driven to such rocky localities as I have alluded to above, and is not, therefore, nearly such a
well-known bird as in India. The eastern and northern divisions of the island, however, teem with so
many remarkable rocky masses, towering far above the circumjacent forests, such as the Friar’s Hood,
‘ Westminster Abbey,’ the Elephant rock, the ‘ Gunner’s Coin,’ Sigiri and Dambulla rocks, Rittagalla,
Mahintale, and a host more o f nature’s mighty castles, the very resorts of all others for the ‘ Blue Rock,’
that it has always been a wonder to me that the species is not far more numerous than it is, the only
solution of the problem being that these natural strongholds are situated too much in forest-country; besides