Page:The Common Birds of Bombay.djvu/167

Rh part of the back ashy instead of pure white, and, as this difference is constant, our bird has been separated under the name Columba intermedia, but it is in all other respects the same bird. It has been less affected by domestication than any other bird or beast which man has taken under his care, except the Guinea Fowl. I do not refer, of course, to fancy Pigeons,—Pouters and Fantails and the like. I regard these as monstrosities, like the Japanese fishes with spare heads and tails. The ordinary domestic Pigeon, which is kept for practical purposes, differs from the original stock in scarcely anything but colour. Accordingly it "reverts" to a state of nature without difficulty, and many white and particoloured pigeons may be seen about the Fort, which have deserted some dovecote for a life of greater freedom, or perhaps eloped with some blue lover. But the great majority of the birds are pure Blue Rocks that have never known the care of man. The race is found in every part of India, breeding on cliffs, or in the sides of wells, or under railway bridges, and plundering the peafields for miles around. They are attracted to Bombay by two things, plentiful house accommodation and the benevolence of pious Hindoo grain merchants.

We have also one Turtle Dove, the species which Jerdon calls the Plain Brown Dove (Turtur cavibayensis). It is a humble little bird, of an earthybrown colour, passing into slaty-gray on the wings and tail, and tinged on the head, neck and breast, with that tender tint, peculiar to doves, which the natural history books call "vinaceous," like a faded claret stain on the table cloth. On each side of the