Mr. H. Strickland saw it at Smyrna in the month of April
1836.
The adult male in summer has the beak brown; the irides
reddish brown; under the eye „a small patch of naked red
skin ; top óf the head bluish ash, inclining to brown on the
back of the neck; on the lower part of the side of the neck
are four rows of black feathers, tipped with white, forming
four oblique bars ; scapulars,- back, and rump, pale brocoli
brown, the centre of each feather still, darker.;, both sets of
wing-covcrts clove brown, broadly margined with bright red
brown ; the most external smaller wing-coverts- bluish grey ;
quill-feathers brocoli brown ; upper tail-coverts, and the two
central tail-feathers, clove brown; th é1'other tail-feathers
darker brown, tipped with white ;J the, outer taikfeather on
each - side, with th e . outer web, also white'; chin, neck* and
breast, pale wood brown, with a vinous tint over thë< latter;
belly, vent, and under tail-coverts white ; under surface of the
tail-feathers blackish brown, tipped with white, as on. the
upper surface: under :wing-coverts and sides of the body
bluish grey; legs and toes yellow brown; claws darker brown.
Whole length eleven inches and a half. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing, six inches and three-quarters :
the first and second quill-feathers rather longer than the
third, and the longest-in the wing.
The colours in the female are' less bright and puro than
those of the male, and she- is rather smaller in size. r
Young birds- of ? the year up to the time of leaving this
country have the beak dark brown ; the general colour of the
plumage of . the head and body hair brown ; the back rather
darker than the front of the neck ; the wing^coverts tipped
with buffy white; the flight, or quill-feathérs, slightly, tinged
on their outer edges with rufous; belly and under tail-coverts
white ; flanks bluish grey ; tail-feathers above hair brown, on
the under surface blackish brown ; the outer feathers on each
side with the external web, and the next two with the ends,
white-V -legs, toes, and claws, brown.
The upper figure in thevengraving at the head of this subject
represents an adult b ird;, the lower figure was taken
from a'yaung bird of the- year.
The vignette represents in Offline the form of the breastbone
of our Turtle Dovelp1 the natural size, and* indicates by
the depth of the keel the great powers of flight possessed by
thedfeirds of this g e n u ^ ^