NOTE.

The following figures are given to illustrate some of the cranial and sternal peculiarities of the Cathartidæ.

14.

3369.

7260.

1588.

14.

3369.

7260.

1588.

14.

1588.

3369.

260.

14.

3369.

1588.

260.

6373.

9007.

3369.

9007.

3369.

Family COLUMBIDÆ.—The Pigeons.

Char. The basal portion of the bill covered by a soft skin, in which are situated the nostrils, overhung by an incumbent fleshy valve, the apical portion hard and convex. The hind toe on the same level with the rest; the anterior toes without membrane at the base. Tarsi more or less naked; covered laterally and behind with hexagonal scales.

The bill of the Columbidæ is always shorter than the head, thinnest in the middle; the basal half covered by a soft skin; the apical portion of both jaws hard; the upper one very convex, blunt, and broad at the tip, where it is also somewhat decurved. There is a long nasal groove, the posterior portion occupied by a cartilaginous scale, covered by a soft cere-like skin. The nostrils constitute an elongated slit in the lower border of the scale. The culmen is always depressed and convex. The bill is never notched in the true Doves, though Didunculus shows well-defined serrations. The tongue is small, soft, and somewhat fleshy.

The wing has ten primaries, and eleven or twelve, rarely fifteen, secondaries; the latter broad, truncate, and of nearly equal length. The tail is rounded or cuneate, never forked.

The tarsus is usually short, rarely longer than the middle toe, scutellate anteriorly, and with hexagonal plates laterally and behind; sometimes naked. An inter-digital membrane is either wanting entirely, or else is very slightly indicated between the middle and outer toes.

The valuable monograph of Bonaparte in the second part of Conspectus Avium renders the task of arranging the American Columbidæ in proper sequence and of determining their synonomy comparatively easy. He divides the family into Lopholæminæ, Columbinæ, Turturinæ, Zenaidinæ, and Phapinæ, the second and fourth alone occurring in North America. They may be briefly distinguished as follows:—

Columbinæ. Tarsus shorter than the lateral toe; feathered above.

Zenaidinæ. Tarsus longer than the lateral toes; entirely bare of feathers.

Subfamily COLUMBINÆ.

Char. Tarsi stout, short, with transverse scutellæ anteriorly; feathered for the basal third above, but not at all behind. Toes lengthened, the lateral decidedly longer than the tarsus. Wings lengthened and pointed. Size large. Tail-feathers twelve.

This section of doves embraces the largest North American species, and among them the more arboreal ones. The genera are as follows:—

Columba. Head large; tail short, broad, and rounded.

Outer toe much longer than the inner; bill rather short, stout … Columba.

Outer toe scarcely longer than the inner; bill lengthened, compressed … Patagiœnas.

Ectopistes. Head very small; tail much lengthened, cuneate.

Genus COLUMBA, Linnæus.

Columba, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Type, Columba livia, L.)

Gen. Char. Bill stout and rather short; culmen from the base of the feathers about two fifths the head. Lateral toes and claws about equal, reaching nearly to the base of the middle claw; the claws rather long, and not much curved. Tail rather short, rounded, or nearly even; as long as from the carpal joint to the end of secondaries in the closed wing. Second and third quills longest.

8741 ♂. ½ ½

Columba fasciata.

The genus Columba, as characterized above, includes the C. livia, or domestic Pigeon, the differences between it and the American forms being very slight. Reichenbach and Bonaparte separate the North American birds from Columba, under the name of Chlorœnas, while C. leucocephala and a near ally of the West Indies (C. corensis) have been placed in the subgenus Patagiœnas, Reichenbach.

The variations of form among the numerous American members of Columba are more with the species, however, than with groups, and withal are so exceedingly slight that an attempt at subdividing the genus is scarcely justifiable. They may be arranged by the style of coloration as follows. None of the American species have the forepart of the neck metallic, as in the European species, or Columba proper, as restricted, and in which these metallic feathers have the fibres loose and blended, instead of being compact; the feathers also have a well-defined squamate arrangement in nearly or quite all the American Columbæ.

Species and Varieties.

A. Tail with a broad terminal band abruptly lighter in color than the basal portion, and with a more or less well-defined blackish band across the middle. Nape with metallic reflections.

a. A narrow nuchal band of white; the metallic feathers beneath this, with their outlines distinct, producing a squamate appearance.

1. C. fasciata. Blackish band across the middle of the tail narrow, and badly defined, and concealed by the coverts; terminal portion of the tail much lighter than the basal part. Bill yellow; crissum whitish; hood and anterior lower parts ashy vinaceous-purple; dorsal region ashy.

Bill tipped with black; wing-coverts conspicuously edged with white; back with an olivaceous cast. Wing, 8.80; tail, 6.10; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.13; middle toe, 1.37; outer, 1.05; inner, .94. Hab. Pacific Province of the United States, south to Guatemala … var. fasciata.

Bill entirely yellow; wing-coverts not distinctly edged with white; back with a bluish cast. Wing, 8.30; tail, 6.20; culmen, .80; tarsus, 1.04; middle toe, 1.27; outer, 1.00; inner, .88. Hab. Costa Rica … var. albilinea.[99]

2. C. araucana.[100] Black band across the middle of the tail as broad as the terminal lighter one, and wholly exposed; terminal portion not lighter than the base. Bill black; crissum deep slate; hood and lower parts deep purplish-vinaceous; dorsal region like the breast. Wing, 8.35; tail, 6.20; culmen, .58; tarsus, 1.13; middle toe, 1.26; outer, .90; inner, .77. Hab. Chile.

b. No nuchal bar of white; metallic feathers of the nape with their fibres blended, producing a soft even surface.

3. C. caribæa.[101] Tail much as in C. fasciata, but with a much greater contrast between the nearly equal dark basal and light terminal portions; the former more uniformly dusky, not showing any distinct darker intermediate band. Bill black; hood and lower parts light ashy-pinkish vinaceous; crissum white; dorsal region ashy. Wing, 8.70; tail, 6.90; culmen, .81; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe, 1.28; outer, .90; inner, .88. Hab. Jamaica.

4. C. rufina.[102] Terminal light band of the tail narrow, badly defined. Bill black. Forehead, dorsal region, lesser wing-coverts, neck and breast, deep chocolate-purple; forepart of the back with a violet reflection. Other portions mainly ashy. Wing, 7.50; tail, 5.00; culmen, .68; tarsus, .97; middle toe, 1.13; outer, .89; inner, .78

. Hab. Brazil, north to Guatemala.

B. Tail of a uniform shade throughout.

a. A metallic “cape” on the nape, each feather bordered with black, producing a conspicuously squamate appearance; above this, a broad, transverse, crescentic patch of dark maroon color. No vinaceous tints on the body.

5. C. leucocephala. Hood white; metallic cape brassy-green; throat, cheeks, etc., dark plumbeous-slate, like the rest of the plumage. Bill yellow only at the tip. Wing, 7.70; tail, 5.50; culmen, .66; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, 1.25; outer, .85; inner, .83. Hab. Cuba, and south Florida.

6. C. corensis.[103] Hood, with remaining portions of head and neck, purplish-vinaceous; metallic cape vinaceous-purple. Bill wholly yellow. Wing, 8.00; tail, 5.70; culmen, .63; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe, 1.25; outer, .86; inner, .83. Hab. Porto Rico; St. Thomas; Santo Domingo; Santa Cruz.

b. No metallic reflections on the nape.

Head and neck, all round, lower parts to the anal region, and a patch on the lesser wing-coverts, reddish chocolate-purple. Rest of plumage slaty-blue, darker on tail and primaries, and more olivaceous on the dorsal region.

7. C. flavirostris. Feathers of the forehead reaching forward to the anterior end of the nasal lobe, and wholly covering the cere on top. Culmen much arched. Bill and claws yellow. Wing, 7.80; tail, 5.40; culmen, .52; tarsus, 1.03; middle toe, 1.15; outer, .82; inner, .75. Hab. Middle America, and southern borders of Middle Province of United States, from Arizona and the Rio Grande; south to Costa Rica.

8. C. inornata.[104] Feathers of the forehead reaching forward to only about the middle of the nasal lobe, leaving the top of the cere naked; culmen only moderately arched. Bill and claws black. Wing, 9.20; tail, 6.60; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.16; middle toe, 1.47; outer, 1.18; inner, .97. Hab. Jamaica.

PLATE LVII.

Columba fasciata, Say.
BAND-TAILED PIGEON.

Columba fasciata, Say, Long’s Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 10.—Bon. Amer. Orn. I, 1825, 77, pl. viii.—Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, Columba, No. 47.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 624.—Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 479, pl. ccclxvii.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 191.—Ib. Birds Amer. IV, 1842, 312, pl. cclxxix.—Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, 1844–46, No. 261.—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 92.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 597.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 506. Chlorœnas fasciata, Bonap. Consp. II, 1854, 51. Columba monilis, Vigors, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 26, pl. x. Chlorœnas monilis, Reich. Icones Av. ccxxvii, fig. 2481.

Sp. Char. Above ash, inclining to olivaceous on the back, and with a fine bluish cast on the rump, under surface of wings, and sides. The primaries and basal portion of the tail dusky. Larger wing-coverts and secondaries, with primaries, distinctly edged with white; terminal third of tail of nearly the same tint as the wing-coverts, but the basal portion much darker, with a rather indistinct, narrow dusky band between the two shades, a little beyond the tips of the upper coverts. Whole head, lateral and front part of neck, and lower parts to the anal region, ashy vinaceous-purple, lighter, and more pinkish on the abdomen; chin considerably lighter; anal region and crissum white. A narrow half-collar of white across the upper portion of the nape; feathers beneath this dull metallic golden-green, with an occasional bronzy reflection, the feathers somewhat squamate. Bill and feet yellow, the former black at the end; iris red. Length, about 15.00; wing, 8.80; tail, 6.10. Female smaller, and less deeply colored, the purplish tint more ashy; sometimes with the nuchal white band obsolete or wanting; the abdomen whitish, etc.

Hab. Pacific Province of United States, and table-lands of Mexico, to Guatemala. Oaxaca (Scl. 1858, 304); Xalapa, 1859, 369 (Cordova, 1856, 359); Guatemala (Salvin, Ibis, II, 276); Fort Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 93); Vera Cruz, alpine region (Sum. M. Bost. Soc. I, 562).

Columba fasciata.

Specimens—even those from the same locality—vary a great deal in size, particularly as to the bill, and there is also considerable variation in the shade and depth as well as the extent of the purplish tint; this varies from a purplish-chocolate tint to nearly violaceous, and sometimes tinges the ends of the lower tail-coverts; sometimes the back has faint bronzy reflections. Guatemalan skins have the white edgings to the wing-coverts less conspicuous than in northern ones, showing an approximation to the features of var. albilinea of Costa Rica; they also have a shorter bill than California specimens. Oregon birds, on the other hand, have longer bills than the California, and are considerably darker in color.

Habits. The Band-tailed Pigeon was first met with in Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and described by Say in 1823. It is found from the northern Rocky Mountains westward to the Pacific, and from Central America northward along the whole of the Pacific Coast as far to the north as Washington Territory, and probably portions of British Columbia.

Mr. Townsend, quoted by Audubon, noticed this Pigeon from the eastern spurs of the Rocky Mountains across to the Columbia River, where it was very abundant. He noticed their arrival in very great numbers on the 17th of April, and they continued in large flocks even while breeding. Their breeding-places were on the banks of the river, the eggs were placed on the ground, under small bushes without any nest, where numbers congregated together. The eggs were two in number, and are described as of a yellowish-white color, some inclining to a bluish-white with minute white dots at the larger end.

These birds feed on the berries of the black-elder and the buds of the balsam poplar. When sitting on the trees, they huddle close together in the manner of the Carolina Parrot, and many may be killed at a single discharge. Their flesh is said to be tender, juicy, and fine eating.

Mr. Nuttall states that this Pigeon is always in flocks, and in Oregon keeps only in the thick forests of the Columbia and the Wahlamet, and during the summer is more particularly abundant in the alluvial groves of the latter river, where he constantly heard its cooing, and saw it in large flocks, feeding on the berries of the elder, the Cornus nuttalli, and the seed-germs and young pods of the balsam poplar. Its call is somewhat similar to that of the Carolina Dove, but is readily distinguishable, is uttered at the usual intervals, and is repeated an hour or two at a time, chiefly in the morning and evening. It remains on the lower part of the Columbia nearly the whole year, feeding on the berries of the tree cornel, moving south only in the severity of winter.

Mr. Salvin found this Pigeon at Volcan de Fuego, in Guatemala, at an elevation of six thousand feet, and at Coban. It was quite common in the high forests of the Volcano.

Dr. Woodhouse met with small flocks of these Pigeons in different parts of New Mexico, and especially in the San Francisco Mountains, now included within the limits of Arizona.

This species was found at Los Nogales, in Mexico, July, 1855, by Dr. Kennerly, and at New Leon by Lieutenant Couch. Dr. Kennerly states that these beautiful birds were often observed in the valleys of the Santa Cruz and Los Nogales Rivers, as well as among the oaks on the adjacent hills. In the month of June they were found in small flocks of four or five, rarely more. When flying, the wings often caused a flapping noise, similar to that made by the domestic Pigeon.

Dr. Newberry, in his Report on the zoölogy of Colonel Williamson’s route, states that he met with this Pigeon at several points of his journey. He speaks of it as an attractive bird, about the size and with many of the habits of the domestic Pigeon. At McCumbers, northeast of Fort Reading, the first individual was seen and killed by one of his party. In that region they were not rare, and during the season of acorns they subsist on those of the scrub-oak, which abounds in that vicinity. On the Columbia they were seen in pairs, and near the Dalles might readily be mistaken for domestic doves.

Dr. Suckley found this Pigeon a very common bird in Washington Territory, especially west of the Cascade Mountains. He saw but a single flock containing five individuals east of those mountains. In 1856, the first birds of this species that arrived in the spring made their appearance about the 15th of May, which he found to be their customary time of arrival. One or two individuals were first seen, and within two or three days thereafter the main body of the migration followed. A small number remained throughout the summer to breed, the rest proceeded farther north. Those that remained generally made their nests in the thick fir forests near water. During the summer they subsisted on wild cherries and other berries, and later in the season, in the settled parts of the country, on grain. About the first week in September large flocks congregated on the stubble-fields in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, and for two or three weeks thereafter their numbers were daily augmented by arrivals from the north. Some of the flocks that he saw in September, he states, must have contained at least a thousand individuals. He was told that on the cultivated districts on Cowlitz River, at the same season, they were in still greater numbers. By the 5th of October all had suddenly disappeared, except a few stragglers, generally young birds. In their flights, Dr. Suckley states, they are not quite as compactly crowded as in the case of the Passenger Pigeon. During the summer, while they were breeding, their cooing and calls could be heard quite a long distance. The name of this bird in the Nisqually language is “Hubboh,” in imitation of their call. In the autumn these birds are said to be excellent eating.

According to Dr. Cooper, these Pigeons arrive at the Columbia River in April, and frequent all the forests of the Territory until the end of October, when they retire south. They keep about the borders of prairies and clearings, and frequently do much damage to fields of grain, though never found in such immense numbers as the common Passenger Pigeon east of the Mississippi. In June they lay two white eggs about the size of those of the House Pigeon, on the ground near streams or openings, and without constructing any nests. During the summer they were observed to feed upon wild peas, wild cherries, and other wild fruits and berries, which are very abundant. Later in the season they seem to depend upon acorns and other nuts. Their cooing is very much like that of the common Pigeon. He saw none east of the Cascade Range.

Mr. Ridgway did not meet with this Pigeon in his route from the Sierra Nevada eastward to the Rocky Mountains, along the line of the 40th parallel, and it is supposed not to occur in that latitude except near the Pacific Coast.

An egg of this Pigeon, given me by Dr. Holden, of Stockton, and obtained in the Coast Range, is oval in shape, equally rounded at either end, and of a dull white. It measures 1.49 inches in length by 1.15 in breadth. Another, in the Smithsonian collection, measures 1.55 by 1.20 inches.

Columba leucocephala, Linn.
WHITE-HEADED PIGEON.

Columba leucocephala, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1758, 164.—Bonap. J. A. N. S. Ph. V, 1825, 30; Syn. 119; Am. Orn. II, 1828, 11, pl. xv.—Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 625.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 443; V, 557, pl. clxxvii; Birds Am. IV, 1842, 315, pl. cclxxx.—Temm. Pig. et Gallin. I, 459.—Gosse, Birds Jam. 1847, 299.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 599.—March, P. A. N. S. 1863, 301 (says there are two species). Patagiœnas leucocephalus, Reichenb. Syst. Av. 1851, xxv; Ic. Av. tab. 223 and 255.—Bonap. Consp. II, 1854, 54.—Gundl. Caban. Journ. 1856, 107.—Reich. Handb. 64, tab. 223, f. 1257, 1258, 255, 2863, 2864.

Sp. Char. General color very dark slate-blue, primaries and tail darker. Upper half of the head, from the bill to the nape, pure white, not reaching the edge of the eyelids; a triangular patch of dark maroon-purple on the occiput, and below it a semicircular “cape” covering the nape, of metallic brassy-green, each feather distinctly bordered externally with velvety-black, producing a squamate appearance. Bill deep purple, the end light blue; iris white; legs deep lake-red. In skins the bill dusky tipped with yellowish, the feet yellow. Sexes similar. Length, 13.50; wing, 7.00; tail, 5.80.

½

8662 ♂

8663 ♂ ½

Columba leucocephala.

Hab. Southern Keys of Florida (including Indian Key) and West Indies generally. Honduras (Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, 61); Santa Cruz (Newton, Ibis, I, 253); Cuba (Cab. J. IV, 107); Bahamas (Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859); Jamaica (Gosse, B. J. 299); Porto Rico (Taylor, Ibis, 1864, 171); Cuba (Gundl. Repert. I, 1866, 298); Santa Bartholemy (Sund. Ofv. 1869, 585).

Habits. The White-headed Pigeon occurs in the more southern of the keys of Florida, but, so far as I am aware, has never been taken on any part of the mainland. It is an abundant species in Cuba, Jamaica, and in most of the other West India Islands.

This Dove, according to Audubon, arrives on the southern keys of Florida about the 20th of April, sometimes not until the first of May. On the 30th of April he shot several just after their arrival from across the Gulf Stream. He noticed them as they approached the shore, skimming along the surface of the water, and flying with great rapidity, in the manner of the House Pigeon. As they approached the land they rose to about a hundred yards, flying in circles as if to survey the country. To procure specimens, it was necessary to force them out from the dark retreats in which they had alighted. They were at all times exceedingly shy and wary, probably on account of the war that is incessantly waged against them, their flesh being very juicy and finely flavored. This shyness is only partially abated even during the breeding-season, as they will silently slide from their nest when sitting, if it is approached, and retreat to the dark shade of the mangroves, and do not return for an interval to their charge. They were more abundant in the more southern keys, except the sterile Tortugas.

According to Mr. March, there are two varieties of this Pigeon, known as the Baldpate in Jamaica, distinguished as the Mountain and the Mangrove Baldpate. The latter he has never met with in the mountains, but both kinds resort at all times to the lowlands and mangrove-swamps along the coasts, and to the neighboring islands and keys (Pigeon Island and the two Goat Islands in particular), where they breed in numbers, making their nests in trees, some at high elevations, others so low as to be within reach of a person standing, according to the convenience of the site. Large numbers of squabs are often taken from these places and brought into the towns for sale. They feed in company in the morning and afternoon, and as they often feed at a distance from their roosting-places, large flocks are sometimes seen in the early morning and evening passing and repassing overhead, sometimes in high, at other times in low flight, going to and returning from the feeding-ground or convenient watering-place. Their food is grain, fruit, and berries, nuts and seeds; and they commit serious depredations on the Guinea-corn fields, not only by the quantity they devour, but by breaking down the brittle cornstalks with the weight of their bodies. They are easily kept in confinement, and often breed and become quiet and contented, but take the earliest opportunity of emancipation. The nest is a platform of sticks and twigs loosely put together, and bedded with softer materials, with a slight hollow in the centre. The eggs are two, glarish-white in color, varying in form and dimensions, but usually long oval, measuring 1.63 inches in length by 1.13 in breadth.

According to Mr. Leyland (Ibis, I, p. 222) this Pigeon inhabits the keys or small islands on the coast of Honduras.

It was found at St. Croix by Professor Alfred Newton, frequenting the hills in the north of the island, and occasionally in the brush-land on the south side. It was not very common, and was said to be a visitor from Porto Rico; but it undoubtedly breeds on the island of St. Croix, as Professor Newton obtained a young bird, shot July 28, which could not have left the nest many days. A caged specimen of this bird, that had been in the possession of Dr. Carden of St. Croix several years, was given to Professor Newton by that gentleman, and presented to the Zoölogical Society of London.

Mr. Audubon found the nests placed high or low according to circumstances, but never saw two on the same tree. He has met with them on the top of a cactus, only a few feet from the ground, or on a low branch of a mangrove almost touching the water. They are said to resemble that of the common Passenger Pigeon, but are more compact and better lined; the outer part being composed of small dry twigs, the inner of fibrous roots and grasses. The eggs are two, of an opaque white, roundish, and as large as those of the common Pigeon. Mr. Audubon thinks that these birds may have several broods in a season. None were known by him to visit the mainland of Florida.

In captivity these birds may be easily managed, and breed readily, as Mr. Audubon witnessed in the aviaries of Dr. Wilson and Rev. Dr. Bachman of Charleston, S. C.

In confinement they are said never to lay more than a single egg. The measurement of their eggs, as given by Mr. Audubon, is 1.31 inches in length by 1.06 in breadth. Eggs in my cabinet from Cuba measure 1.40 by 1.03 inches. They are of a pure but not a brilliant white color, equal at either end and oval in shape.

Columba flavirostris, Wagler.
RED-BILLED DOVE.

Columba flavirostris, Wagler, Isis, 1831, 519.—Lawrence, Annals N. Y. Lyc. V. May, 1851, 116.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 598, pl. lxi.—Ib. Mex. B. II, Birds 21, pl. xxiii.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 508. Chlorœnas flavirostris, Bonap. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 52.—Reichenb. Handb. 61. ? Columba solitaria, McCall, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. III, July, 1847, 233 (Rio Grande, Texas. Description referring probably to this species).

Sp. Char. Second and third quills equal, and decidedly longer than the first and fourth, also nearly equal. Tail truncate, slightly rounded. Head and neck all round, breast, and a large patch on the middle and lesser wing-coverts, light chocolate-red, the latter deeper and more opaque red; the middle of the back, scapulars, and tertials olive; the rest of body, wings, and tail very dark slaty-blue; the inferior and concealed surfaces of the latter black. Bill and legs yellow in the dried skin, said to be purple in life; eyes purple. Length, 14.00; wing, 8.00; tail, 5.70.

Hab. Lower Rio Grande, and Mexico, south to Costa Rica. Oaxaca (Scl. 1859, 391);

(Cordova, 1856, 309); Honduras (Taylor, Ibis, II, 226; Salv. Ibis, III, 355); City of Mexico (Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, 178); Southeastern Texas, breeding (Dresser, Ibis, 1866, 23); Costa Rica (Lawr. IX, 134).

There is no trace of any metallic scale-like feathers on the neck of this species. The wing-feathers, including the greater coverts, are whitish on their external border. There is sometimes a tinge of the red on the inside of the wing.

The C. inornata of Jamaica (see synopsis) is wonderfully similar, except in the form and color of the bill; the plumage of the two does not differ in the minutest particular. The West Indian bird is much the larger, however, the bill black, and very differently shaped.

The Columba solitaria of McCall appears to be closely related to this species, but, judging from the description, seems to differ in having the head and neck bluish rather than red. It may possibly be the female of C. flavirostris, as this sex usually has a bluish tinge instead of red; the smaller size, too, would favor this supposition.[105]

Habits. The Red-billed Dove claims a place in the North American fauna only as a resident in the valley of the Lower Rio Grande River. It appears also to be found on and near the gulf-coast of Mexico and Central America.

It was taken at New Leon, Mexico, in March, 1853, by Lieutenant Couch, and on the Rio Grande by Mr. A. Schott. It was first seen by the former in the thick woody bottoms of the San Juan, New Leon. The birds were quite common, but remained very secluded. They are said to be of very rapid flight.

Mr. G. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1860, p. 226) mentions finding these birds not uncommon on Tigre Island, in Honduras, but did not meet with them in the interior. He speaks of them as very handsome birds, but gives no account of their habits.

Mr. Henry E. Dresser found the Red-billed Dove quite common near Matamoras, and breeding there. During the autumn great quantities, as well as of the leucoptera and the carolinensis, are brought to the market for sale. At Brownsville, also, these birds were not uncommon, but were found for only a short distance towards the interior of Texas, and none were seen higher up the Rio Grande than Roma. A Mexican, who shot doves for the market, informed Mr. Dresser that he had found this species breeding near the town of Matamoras, and that it builds a nest somewhat similar to that of Z. carolinensis, but that its two eggs are somewhat larger. Their stomachs were found filled with a kind of blueberry.

Eggs in the Berlandier collection are oval in shape, equal and slightly tapering at either end, and of a creamy-white color. They measure 1.18 inches in length by .90 of an inch in breadth.

Genus ECTOPISTES, Swainson.

Ectopistes, Swainson, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 362. (Type, Columba migratoria, L.)

Gen. Char. Head very small. Bill short, black; culmen one third the rest of the head; feathers of the chin running very far forward; gonys very short. Tarsi very short, half covered anteriorly by feathers. Inner lateral claw much larger than outer, reaching to the base of the middle one. Tail very long and excessively cuneate; above as long as the wings. First primary longest. Black spots on scapulars; a black and a rufous spot on inner webs of tail-feathers.

This genus is readily distinguished from the other Columbinæ by the excessively lengthened and acute middle feathers. It formerly included the Columba carolinensis, but this, with more propriety, has been erected into a different genus, and will be found in the next section.

17046 ♂ ½ ½

Ectopistes migratoria.

The Ectopistes migratoria is blue above, the male purplish-red beneath, the female brownish-ashy, passing into whitish behind. The wing above and scapulars are spotted with bluish-black, the sides of the neck with metallic gloss of solferino-purple; the inner webs of tail-feathers have each a rufous and a black spot.

Ectopistes migratoria, Swainson.
WILD PIGEON; PASSENGER-PIGEON.

Columba migratoria, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 285.—Gm. I, 389.—Forster, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 398.—Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 102, pl. xliv.—Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 91.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 319; V, 561, pl. lxii. Ectopistes migratoria, Swainson, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 355.—Ib. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 363.—Bon. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 59.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 194.—Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 25, pl. cclxxxv.—“Reich. Icones Av. tab. 249, figs. 1377, 1379.”—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 600.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 424.—Lord, Pr. R. A. I. IV, 122 (British Columbia, from coast; nest on ground).—Cooper & Suckley, 218.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 509. Columba canadensis, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 284.—Gm. I, 1788, 785. Female or young. (Prior name ?) Columba americana, “Kalm, It. II, 527.” Passenger Pigeon, Pennant, II, 322.—Lath. Syn. II, II, 661.

Sp. Char. Tail with twelve feathers. Upper parts generally, including sides of body, head, and neck, and the chin, blue. Beneath, purple brownish-red, fading behind into a violet tint. Anal region and under tail-coverts bluish-white. Scapulars, inner tertials, and middle of back with an olive-brown tinge; the wing-coverts, scapulars, and inner tertials with large oval spots of blue-black on the outer webs, mostly concealed, except on the latter. Primaries blackish, with a border of pale bluish tinged internally with red. Middle tail-feather brown; the rest pale blue on the outer web, white internally; each with a patch of reddish-brown at the base of the inner web, followed by another of black. Sides and back of neck richly glossed with metallic golden-violet or reddish-purple. Tibiæ bluish-violet. Bill black. Feet lake-red. The female is smaller, much duller in color, more olivaceous above; beneath, pale ash instead of red, except a tinge on the neck; the jugulum tinged with olive, the throat whitish. Length of male, 17.00; wing, 8.50; tail, 8.40.

Hab. North America to high Central Plains; West Humboldt Mountains, Nevada (September; Ridgway). Cuba (Gundl. Rep. I, 1866, 302; Cab. J. IX, 112).

The blue of the side of the head extends to the throat and chin. The upper part of the back and lesser coverts are of a darker blue than the head and rump. The inner primaries are more broadly margined with light blue, which tapers off to the end. The axillars and under surface of the wing are light blue. The longest scapulars have the black on both webs. There is no blue on the outer web of the first tail-feather, which is white, as is the inferior surface of the tail generally.

Ectopistes migratoria.

In some specimens the entire head all round is blue.

The immature male varies in having most of the feathers of the head and body margined with whitish.

Habits. The common Passenger Pigeon of North America is found throughout the continent in great abundance, from the Atlantic to the great Central Plains, and from the Southern States, in which it only occasionally occurs, to at least the 62d parallel of northern latitude, in the interior.

Richardson states that this Pigeon arrives in the fur countries in the latter part of May and leaves in October. On the coast of Hudson’s Bay it reaches no farther than the 58th parallel, and only in very fine summers, but in the interior or in the warmer central districts it attains to the 62d degree. Mr. Hutchins mentions, as a remarkable occurrence, that a flock of these Pigeons visited York Factory and remained two days.

It is not found on the Pacific coast. Dr. Suckley only met with a single bird in immature plumage on a branch of Milk River, in Nebraska, about one hundred and seventy-five miles east of the Rocky Mountains; he thinks the eastern base may be considered their western limit. Dr. Cooper has seen it at Fort Laramie, but has never seen nor heard of it in Oregon, though Townsend mentions it as found there.

Dr. Woodhouse found these Pigeons common throughout the Indian Territory in the spring and fall, during their migrations.

Captain Blakiston noticed the first arrival of the Passenger Pigeons at Fort Carlton, on the 23d of May. By the middle of June numerous flocks were moving northward. These could, at a long distance, be readily distinguished from flocks of water-fowl or waders, by their flight being in no particular order. On the Mackenzie, Mr. Ross observed these birds as far north as Fort Norman in latitude 65°, while on the coast of Hudson’s Bay they are only found as far as 58°, even in warm summers.

The Wild Pigeon appears to be almost entirely influenced in its migrations by the abundance of its food, excepting in those parts of the country in which it has not been known to remain during winter. Even in these movements it is largely influenced by instinctive considerations of food. Evidently the temperature has but little to do with their migrations, as they not unfrequently move northward in large columns as early as the 7th of March, with a thermometer twenty degrees below the freezing-point. In the spring of 1872 a large accumulation of these birds took place early in March, in the eastern portion of New York. They were present in the forests about Albany, and were taken in such immense numbers that the markets of New York and Boston were very largely supplied with them.

As early as the 10th of March they were ascertained to have in their ovaries full-grown eggs, ready for exclusion. In Kentucky they have been known, according to Audubon, to remain summer and winter in the same districts for several successive years, in consequence of the great abundance of food, while in other parts of the State none were to be met with. They suddenly disappeared as soon as the beech-mast had become exhausted, and did not return for a long period.

The Wild Pigeons are capable of propelling themselves in long-continued flights, and are known to move with an almost incredible rapidity, passing over a great extent of country in a very short time. It is quite a common and well-ascertained fact that Pigeons are captured in the State of New York with their crops still filled with the undigested grains of rice that must have been taken in the distant fields of Georgia or South Carolina, apparently proving that they must have passed over the intervening space within a very few hours. Audubon estimates the rapidity of their flight as at least a mile a minute.

The Wild Pigeons are said to move, in their flight, by quickly repeated flaps of the wings, which are brought more or less near to the body, according to the degree of velocity required. During the love-season they often fly in a circling manner, supporting themselves with both wings angularly elevated. Before alighting, they break the force of their flight by repeated flappings.

Their great powers of flight, and the ability thus given to change at will their residence, and their means of renewing a supply of food, are also thought to be seconded by a remarkable power of vision, enabling them to discover their food with great readiness. Mr. Audubon states that he has observed flocks of these birds, in passing over a sterile part of the country, fly high in the air, with an extended front, enabling them to survey hundreds of acres at once. When the land is richly covered with food, or the trees well supplied with mast, they fly low in order to discover the part most plentifully supplied.

Several writers, who have witnessed the occasionally enormous flights of these Pigeons, have given very full and graphic accounts of their immense numbers that seem hardly credible to those who have not seen them. Mr. Audubon relates that in 1813, on his way from Henderson to Louisville, in crossing the barrens near Hardensburg, he observed these birds flying to the southwest in greater numbers than he had ever known before. He attempted to count the different flocks as they successively passed, but after counting one hundred and sixty-three in twenty-one minutes he gave it up as impracticable. As he journeyed on, their numbers seemed to increase. The air seemed filled with Pigeons, and the light of noonday to be obscured as by an eclipse. Not a single bird alighted, as the woods were destitute of mast, and all flew so high that he failed to reach any with a rifle. He speaks of their aerial evolutions as beautiful in the extreme, especially when a Hawk pressed upon the rear of a flock. All at once, like a torrent, and with a noise like that of thunder, they rushed together into a compact mass, and darted forward in undulating lines, descending and sweeping near the earth with marvellous velocity, then mounting almost perpendicularly in a vast column, wheeling and twisting so that their continued lines seemed to resemble the coils of a gigantic serpent. During the whole of his journey from Hardensburg to Louisville, fifty-five miles, they continued to pass in undiminished numbers, and also did so during the three following days. At times they flew so low that multitudes were destroyed, and for many days the entire population seemed to eat nothing else but Pigeons.

When a flight of Pigeons discovers an abundant supply of food, sufficient to induce them to alight, they are said to pass around in circles over the place, making various evolutions, after a while passing lower over the woods, and at length alighting; then, as if suddenly alarmed, taking to flight, only to return immediately. These manœuvres are repeated with various indications of indecision in their movements, or as if apprehensive of unseen dangers. During these manœuvres the flapping of their many thousand wings causes a reverberation suggestive of distant thunder. When at last settled upon the ground, they industriously search among the fallen leaves for the acorns and the beech-mast, the rear flocks continually rising, passing over the main body, and realighting. These changes are so frequent that at times the whole collection appears to be in motion. A large extent of ground is thus cleared in a surprisingly short space of time, and cleared with a completeness that is described as incredible. They are usually satiated by the middle of the day, and ascend to the trees to rest and digest their food. On these occasions the Pigeons are destroyed in immense numbers, and their abundance in large extents of the country has been very sensibly reduced.

In its movements on the ground, as also when alighted on the branches of trees, the Wild Pigeon is remarkable for its ease and grace. It walks on the ground and also on the limbs of trees with an easy, graceful motion, frequently jerking its tail and moving its neck backward and forward.

Mr. Audubon states that in Kentucky he has repeatedly visited one of the remarkable roosting-places to which these birds resort at night. This one was on the banks of Green River, and to this place the birds came every night at sunset, arriving from all directions, some of them from the distance of several hundred miles, as was conjectured from certain observations. This roost was in a portion of the forest where the trees were of great magnitude. It was more than forty miles in length, and averaged three in breadth. It had been occupied as a roost about a fortnight when he visited it. Their dung was several inches deep on the ground, covering the whole extent of the roosting-place. Many trees, two feet in diameter, had been broken down by their weight, as well as many branches of the largest and tallest trees. The forest seemed as if it had been swept by a tornado. Everything gave evidence that the number of birds resorting to that part of the forest must be immense. A large number of persons collected before sunset to destroy them, provided with torches of pine-knots, and armed with long poles and guns. The Pigeons began to collect after sunset, their approach preceded, even when they were at a distance, by a noise like that of a hard gale at sea sounding in the rigging of a vessel. As the birds passed over him, they created a strong current of air. The birds arrived by thousands, fires were lighted, and the work of destruction commenced. Many were knocked down by the pole-men. In many cases they collected in such solid masses on the branches that several of their perches gave way and fell to the ground, in this way destroying hundreds of the birds beneath them. It was a scene of great confusion and continued until past midnight, the Pigeons still continuing to arrive. The sound made by the birds at the roost could be heard at the distance of three miles. As day approached, the noise in some measure subsided; and long before objects were distinguishable the Pigeons began to move off, and before daylight all that were able to fly had disappeared. The dead and wounded birds were then collected and piled into heaps by those who had assembled for the purpose.

Though for the most part living, moving, and feeding together in large companies, the Wild Pigeon mates in pairs for purposes of breeding. They have several broods in the season, and commence nesting very early in the spring, the time being considerably affected by the amount of food. In the spring of 1849 an immense number of these birds collected on Fayston Mountain, near Montpelier, Vt., although at the time of their coming the weather was very cold and the ground covered with snow. There they seemed to find a great abundance of food, berries of the mountain-ash and such other fruit as they could procure, and there they remained, breeding in great numbers, until late in the summer. They were still collected in June, although the whole neighborhood was warring upon them for many miles around, and the markets of Boston and other places were largely supplied with them.

In the extensive forests of Kentucky, Mr. Audubon found them usually collecting and breeding in trees of great height, and always at a convenient distance from water, resorting thither in countless myriads. Their note, during breeding, is described as a short coo-coo, much briefer than in the domestic Pigeon, while their usual call-note is a repetition of the monosyllables kee-kee-kee, the first note being louder and the last fainter than the rest. In the love-season the male puts on the pompous manners peculiar to all Pigeons, and follows the female with drooping wings and expanded tail, the body being held in an elevated attitude and the throat swollen. Occasionally they caress one another in the same manner in which they feed their young, by introducing the bill of one into that of the other and disgorging the contents of their crops.

Their nests are composed of a few dry twigs laid crosswise, and built upon the branches of trees. From fifty to a hundred were seen by Audubon in the same tree, and were said to be frequently at a considerable height. The few I have seen were in low trees, and not more than ten feet from the ground. The eggs are never more than two in number, pure white, and of a broadly elliptical form. During incubation the male bird feeds the mate and afterwards assists in supplying the young birds, and both birds are conspicuous in their demonstrations of affection, both to each other and to their offspring. The young brood, usually both sexes in one nest, leave their parents as soon as they are able to shift for themselves.

In the New England States and in the more cultivated part of the country these birds no longer breed in large communities. The instance near Montpelier, in 1849, is the only marked exception that has come within my knowledge. They now breed in isolated pairs, their nests being scattered through the woods and seldom near one another.

The Wild Pigeon has been successfully kept in aviaries, and has occasionally bred in confinement.

Wilson’s account of the habits of these Pigeons is substantially corroborative of that of Audubon. He witnessed their migrations in vast numbers, in various parts of the country,—in Western New York, in Pennsylvania, in various parts of Virginia, where he beheld their immense flocks with amazement, but where they were mere straggling parties compared with the congregated millions he saw in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. He also noted their habit of frequenting the same roosting-place night after night, even when they were compelled to fly sixty or eighty miles each day to their feeding-places. His account of their roosting-places is similar to that of Audubon, corroborating the accumulation of the dung covering the surface of the ground and destroying all the grass and underbrush, the breaking down of large limbs, and even of small trees, by the weight of the birds clustering one above another, and the trees themselves at last killed as completely as if girdled by an axe.

One of the breeding-places visited by Wilson, not far from Shelbyville, Ky., stretched through the forest in nearly a north and south direction. This was several miles in breadth, and upwards of forty miles in extent. In this immense tract nearly every tree was furnished with nests wherever there were branches to accommodate them. He was informed by those who had sought to plunder the nests of the squabs, that the noise in the woods was so great as to terrify their horses, and that it was difficult for one person to hear another speak. The ground was strewed with broken limbs, eggs, and young Pigeons. Hawks were sailing about in great numbers, while from twenty feet upwards to the tops of the trees there was a perpetual tumult of crowding and fluttering multitudes of Pigeons, their wings resounding like thunder, and mingled with the frequent crash of falling trees. In one instance he counted ninety nests in a single tree.

When on his way from Shelbyville to Frankfort, Wilson witnessed an immense flight of these birds, and was astonished at their appearance. They were flying with great steadiness and rapidity in several strata deep and very close together. From right to left, as far as the eye could reach, this vast procession extended its immense breadth, seeming everywhere equally crowded. For more than an hour by the watch he stood and observed this prodigious procession, which, instead of diminishing, seemed rather to increase both in numbers and rapidity. Three hours later, as he was entering Frankfort, the living torrent above his head was as numerous and extended as when first observed. Wilson computed the number of Pigeons in this flight at over two thousand two hundred millions.

The most southern point at which this Pigeon is known to breed, as given by Wilson, was in the Choctaw country, in Mississippi, in latitude 32°.

Mr. Ridgway obtained a single specimen of this species in the West Humboldt Mountains, in September, 1867. It was a young bird, and had been feeding on the berries of a species of Cornus.

The eggs of the Wild Pigeon vary considerably in length, and also somewhat in breadth. They average about 1.45 inches in length and 1.05 in breadth. They are white in color, have an oval shape, and are equally rounded at both ends.

Subfamily ZENAIDINÆ.

Char. Tarsi stout, lengthened; always longer than the lateral toes, and entirely without feathers; the tibial joint usually denuded. Tarsus sometimes with hexagonal scales anteriorly. Tail-feathers sometimes fourteen.

This subfamily is readily distinguished from the preceding by the longer and more denuded tarsi, the feet being much better fitted for a terrestrial life. The following sections belong to it:—

Zenaideæ. Size moderate. Wings lengthened, acute, the primaries much longer than the secondaries. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly. A blackish spot beneath the auriculars; tail-feathers tipped with white, and with a blackish subterminal bar. Sides of the neck with a metallic gloss.

Bill lengthened, much depressed. A white patch on the wing; no black spots on the scapulars; plumage ashy, lighter beneath. Tail of twelve feathers, rounded … Melopelia.

Bill smaller, more compressed. No white patch on the wing; scapulars with black spots. Above olivaceous, beneath vinaceous.

Tail of twelve feathers rounded … Zenaida.

Tail of fourteen feathers, graduated or cuneate … Zenaidura.

Chamæpelieæ. Size very small. Wings rounded, the primaries scarcely longer than the tertials. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly. No blackish spot beneath the auriculars; no metallic gloss on sides of the neck.

Tail of twelve feathers, lengthened (much longer than wings), doubly rounded, the lateral feathers much shorter; the three outer pairs with white terminally … Scardafella.

Tail of twelve feathers, short (much less than wings), simply rounded, the lateral feathers only slightly shorter; outer feathers without white terminally, or with only a slight edging. Wing-coverts with oblique black spots, and body without transverse blackish bars.

Outside of the tarsus with a narrow feathered strip; lining of the wing blackish … Talpacota.

Outside of the tarsus without a feathered strip; lining of the wing wholly rufous … Chamæpelia.

Starnœnadeæ. Size moderate (generally a little larger than Zenaida); form robust, or quail-like. Legs very stout; tarsi decidedly longer than the middle toe, variously scaled anteriorly. Wings short, very broad, and much rounded, but the primaries decidedly longer than the secondaries.

Legs very stout; tarsi covered with hexagonal scales; crown blue; a black gular patch, bordered below by white … Starnœnas.

Legs moderate; tarsi covered anteriorly with transverse scutellæ. Crown never blue, and throat without black or white markings … Geotrygon.

The genera characterized above are all more or less nearly related to others belonging to South America, and many of these apparently form connecting links between the several North American ones. Thus, “Columbina” picui, Gray (of Chili), and C. strepitans (of Paraguay), are almost exactly intermediate between Scardafella and Chamæpelia, both in form and colors. “Leptoptila” is in reality scarcely more than a very large Chamæpelia with an approach to Zenaida in more lengthened primaries, and to Geotrygon in the lengthened tarsus.

“Peristera” cinerea is again a slightly enlarged reproduction of Chamæpelia, with the same pattern of coloration, but without rufous on the inside of the wing.

Starnœnas and Geotrygon are nearly connected by the G. chiriquensis, which agrees with the genus to which it is referred in the scutellate tarsi, and with Starnœnas in the peculiar structure of the feathers of the neck, which have, as in that “genus,” a stiff, compact structure, and rather raylike arrangement.

Genus MELOPELIA, Bonap.

Melopelia, Bonap. Consp. II, Dec. 1854, 81. (Type, Columba leucoptera, L.)

Gen. Char. Similar to Zenaida; the orbital region and lore more naked; the bill longer; the middle toe longer; the hinder shorter. Tarsal scutellæ in a single series anteriorly. First quill nearly as long as the second and third. A large white patch on wing-coverts, lower parts light ashy.

This genus, like nearly all the North American ones, is represented by but a single species in the United States.

Melopelia leucoptera, (Linn.) Bonap.
WHITE-WINGED DOVE.

Columba leucoptera, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1758, 164 (Jamaica).—Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 773.—Wagl. Syst. Av. 1827, Columba, No. 71.—McCall, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. IV, 1848, 64. Zenaida leucoptera, Gray, Gen. B. Turtur leucopterus, Gosse, B. Jam. 1847, 304. Melopelia leucoptera, Bonap. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 81.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 603.—Reichenb. Handb. Taub. 22, tab. 254, f. 1417; 255, f. 2869.—March, P. A. N. S. 1863, 302.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 515. ? Columba hoilotl, Gm. S. N. I, 1788, 777. Columba trudeaui, Aud. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 352, pl. ccccxcvi.

Sp. Char. General color fine ashy, with an olivaceous cast on upper surface, the middle tail-feathers being decidedly brownish; secondaries and primaries blackish. Beneath paler ashy, with a light drab cast anteriorly (lightest on the throat), the abdomen and sides with a fine light-bluish cast; anal region white, crissum more bluish. Occiput with a purplish tinge. A spot of black, with steel-blue reflection below the ears; a large patch of white on the wing, covering the lower coverts from the elbow to the secondaries; secondaries margined terminally with white. Terminal fourth of tail-feathers, except the two medial, ashy-white, preceded by a subterminal blackish band. Male with faint purplish-golden reflections on the sides of the neck, and the throat and jugulum inclining to ochrey-vinaceous; the occiput and nape decided purplish. Female with this scarcely apparent. Male: wing, 6.80; tail, 5.10; culmen, .84; tarsus, 1.06; middle toe, 1.10. Female slightly smaller.

13010 ♂ ½ ½

Melopelia leucoptera, Bonap.

Hab. Southern border of United States, from Texas to Arizona and Lower California; Mexico, south to Costa Rica, Cuba and Jamaica, Oaxaca, highlands (Scl. 1858, 305); Cordova (1856, 309); Jamaica (Gosse, B. J. 304); Honduras (Taylor, Ibis, II, 227); City of Mexico (Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, 178); Southeastern Texas, breeding (Dresser, Ibis, 1866, 24); Cuba (Gundl. Rep. I, 1866, 301); Fort Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 93); Costa Rica (Lawr. IX, 139); Yucatan (Lawr. IX, 207).

However remarkable and exceptional the distribution of this species may appear in occurring in Cuba and Jamaica and in Mexico, from the Atlantic coast to Cape St. Lucas, and north to Santa Fé, New Mexico, we have yet been unable to find any tangible differences in specimens from these extreme localities. The Jamaica bird has rather a more decided wash of brown on the neck and forehead, the toes apparently shorter; but as specimens from the same locality vary in this respect, it is probable that in a large series such differences will disappear in the average.

Melopelia leucoptera.

Habits. This species is found on the Lower Rio Grande, in Arizona, and, according to Dr. Cooper, in California. It also occurs in Mexico, and was taken in Tamaulipas by Lieutenant Couch, March, 1858. It has also been met with in several of the West India Islands and in Central America.

This species is abundant in Jamaica, where, according to Mr. March, it is more a lowland than a mountain Dove. They are said to be gregarious, usually keeping in flocks of from ten to twenty, but in January and in February, in the Guinea-corn season, and at other times when the Cerei are in fruit, they congregate in large flocks, often of several hundreds. Their food is principally grain and seeds, but they are equally fond of the ripe fruit of the different species of Cereus abounding on the savannas and salines during the summer. Inland, the White-wings, in the same manner as the Baldpate, breed in solitary pairs; but in the mangrove swamps, and in the islands along the coast, they breed in company, many in the same tree. The nest is a frail platform of sticks, with a slight hollow lined with leaves and bark, and sometimes a few feathers. The eggs are two, of an oblong-oval shape, glarish-white in color, measuring 1.31 inches in length by .94 of an inch in breadth. Mr. March adds that the White-wing is often kept in confinement, where it occasionally breeds. It is at first quite wild, fluttering in alarm at the approach of any person, but afterwards becomes quite docile if attended with care. It has been known to cross and mate with the Turtur risorius, a bird which has been introduced into Jamaica. Mr. March had, at the time his paper appeared, a male White-wing mated with a female Ringdove.

This species was found at Omoa, Honduras, by Mr. Leyland, and by Mr. Salvin about Dueñas, Guatemala, where it was one of the common Doves. It was found on the ground, in the open savannas.

Mr. G. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1860) found this bird abundant in Central America, especially on the Pacific coast and in the environs of Comayagua. He adds that he found this species most plentiful in the vicinity of houses and cornfields, while the Z. carolinensis seem to prefer the woods and open plains. Both were easily shot, and were found to be excellent eating.

Mr. Dresser found this species very common near Matamoras and Brownsville, and as far into the interior of Texas as Sal Colorado, after which it becomes rare, and he never saw any farther east or north than the Rio Nueces. It is not uncommon at Eagle Pass, where he saw many in cages in the huts of the Mexicans. Their stomachs were found to contain maize and caterpillars.

Mr. Xantus, in his notes upon the birds of Cape St. Lucas, mentions finding several of the nests and eggs of this Dove. All the nests mentioned contained two eggs. One was in the fork of a leafless tree, about ten feet from the ground; another was about six feet high and placed on a small dwarf-oak; and a third, found May 20, was in a thorn-bush, about ten feet from the ground. In one instance a single egg, already incubated, was found on the top of a large cactus trunk, but without any indication of a nest.

The eggs of this species are oval in shape, white, of equal size at either end, and measure 1.35 inches by .92.

Genus ZENAIDA, Bonap.

Zenaida, Bonaparte, Geog. & Comp. List, 1838. (Type, Columba zenaida, Bp.)

Gen. Char. Bill black; the culmen about two fifths the rest of the head. Tarsi a little shorter than the middle toe and claw, but considerably longer than the lateral toes. Tarsus with broad scutellæ anteriorly, those on the lower half bifid, making two hexagonal series. Inner lateral toe a little the longer. Hind toe and claw as long as the inner lateral without claw. Wings lengthened; second and third quills longest. Tail short, about two fifths the wings, rounded or a little graduated. Orbits feathered, especially anterior to the eye; the lids bare.

But one species of this genus belongs to our fauna, and this is probably but an occasional visitor.

Zenaida amabilis, Bonap.
ZENAIDA DOVE.

Columba zenaida, Bonap. J. A. N. Sc. V, 1825, 30.—Ib. Am. Orn. II, 1828, pl. xv.—Wagler, Isis, 1829, 744.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 625.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 354; V, 558, pl. clxii.—Ib. Birds Am. V, 1842, 1, pl. cclxxxi. Zenaida amabilis, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. II, 1854, 82.—Gosse, Birds Jam. 1847, 307.—Reichenbach, Icones Av. “tab. 255.”—Gundlach, Cabanis’s Journ. 1856, 111.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 602.—Reich. Handb. Taub. 21, tab. 255, f. 2867, 2868; 254, f. 1412.—March, P. A. N. S. 1863, 352. Zenaida aurita, Gray, not Columba aurita of Lichtenstein (Z. maculata), nor of Temminck (Z. martinicana), fide Bonaparte.

Sp. Char. Wings very long, reaching to the terminal third of the tail. Above reddish-olive, variously glossed with gray; the top of the head and the under parts violet-purplish red, paler on the chin and throat. Inside of wings, and sides of body, blue; greater wing-coverts tinged with the same. Quills dark brown; the secondaries tipped with white. Inner tail-feathers like the back; the others blue above; all with a subterminal bar of black, beyond which the blue is lighter, assuming a whitish tint on the exterior feathers. Wing-coverts with concealed spots of black, which are more visible on the tertials; a spot of the same below the ear. Bill black. Feet yellowish. Length, 10.00; wing, 6.00; tail, 4.00.

94 ♂ ½ ½

Zenaida amabilis.

Hab. Florida Keys. Chiefly on or near Indian Key and the West Indies. Santa Cruz (Newton, Ibis, I, 253, eggs); Cuba (Cab. J. IV, III; Gundl. Rep. I, 1866, 301); Bahamas (Bryant, Pr. B. VII, 1859); Jamaica (Gosse, B. J. 317); Sombrero (Lawr. VIII, 99); Porto Rico (Bryant, B. P. 1866).

Among many specimens of this species before us is one from Mr. Audubon’s collection, probably procured in Florida. It must be much rarer now than formerly on the keys, as several collections of birds made on Indian Key do not include any specimens.

The Z. hypoleuca, Gray,[106] of South America, is very similar, but lacks any trace of the broad white bar at the end of the secondaries. There is more white on the tail, the feathers of which are narrower at the ends; besides, the colors generally are lighter, the crissum being creamy-white.

Habits. The Zenaida Dove was found by Mr. Audubon to be a transient visitor of the keys of East Florida, where, according to his observations, they made their first appearance among the islands around Indian Key about the 15th of April. There they continued to increase in numbers until October, when they all returned to the West India Islands, whence they came, and where they are most numerous. The males were observed to reach the keys in which they passed the summer to breed before the females, and were heard cooing, as if in search of their mates, at least a week before the arrival of the latter. They begin to lay their eggs about the first of May. When they leave, in their autumnal migrations, they depart in small groups by families.

These birds are said by Mr. Audubon to be Ground Doves in habit. Their flight resembles that of the so-called Ground Dove, and is seldom higher than the tops of the mangroves, and never to any considerable distance except during their migrations. Though they alight on trees with ease, and can walk well among their branches, they spend the greater portion of their time on the ground, and walk well there, walking or running in search of food with lightness and celerity, and invariably roost on the ground.

Their flight is similar to that of the Carolina Dove in the firm movements of the wings, though they do not produce the same whistling sounds. In flying over the water they keep near its surface; and when started from the ground they only fly to a short distance, and realight in the grass or a thicket. They are extremely gentle, so much so that Mr. Audubon has occasionally approached so near as to almost touch them with his gun as they stood gazing at him, apparently devoid of all fear.

They breed in the few keys that are covered with grass and low shrubs. They always place their nest on the ground, often with so little concealment that it may be easily discovered by any one searching for it. Occasionally it is placed between tufts of grass, the tops of which bend over and conceal it. A small hole is scooped in the sand in which a slight nest, composed of matted blades of dry grasses, is placed, circular in form, and embedded in an outer collection of dry leaves and twigs. The whole fabric is said to be more compact than the nest of any other Pigeon. The eggs, always two, are described as pure white and translucent.

When sitting on her eggs or on her young, the female rarely moved from them except when an attempt was made to catch her, which she always evaded with great dexterity, gliding with great quickness to a short distance, and watching the movements of the intruder with drooping wings and an air of deep sorrow, her whole frame trembling as if with intense cold.

Mr. Audubon took alive two of the young birds, which he fed from his mouth with Indian-corn meal. This they ate with avidity, until placed under the care of a common tame Pigeon, that at once fostered them. They lived, and were taken to Dr. Bachman in Charleston.

Their notes are said to closely resemble the cooing of the Carolina Dove, but are somewhat more soft and tender. During midday, when the heat in the central parts of the keys is intense, these birds are silent.

Their flesh was found to be excellent, and they were generally very fat. They fed on grass seeds, on the leaves of certain aromatic plants, and on various kinds of berries,—among others, one highly poisonous to man,—and mingle with their food particles of shells and gravel. They have two broods in a season.

According to Mr. Audubon, their eggs measure 1.25 inches in length by .87 of an inch in breadth, and are abruptly pointed at one end. He states that they propagated readily in the aviary of the Earl of Derby, some being let loose in the hope of introducing them into England.

This species, known in Jamaica as the Pea Dove, is not, according to March, gregarious, and, although terrestrial in habits, is often seen and heard on trees, and also roosts there. It nests indiscriminately on the ground or in trees, making a slight platform of sticks and twigs, loosely put together. The eggs are two, oval or roundish-oval in shape, and white. They measure from 1.20 to 1.32 inches in length by an inch in breadth. It is a favorite cage-bird, and though apparently very timid and restless, becomes very tame and docile, and will take grain from the hand or lips of its feeder.

In Santa Cruz it is known as the Mountain Dove, and was there found very common by Mr. Newton. It afforded excellent sport and was very good eating. It was not only numerous on the hills, but was likewise plentiful in all parts of the island sufficiently overgrown with brush. Mr. Newton did not find it so terrestrial in its habits as it is stated to be by some writers. Its flight is said to be remarkably rapid. It breeds from April to the end of July, and is said to build the ordinary Pigeon’s nest,—a mere platform of twigs in a bush or tree at any height from a few feet to twenty. It lays two eggs, which, in Santa Cruz, were found by Mr. Newton to be perfectly white, and not of a drab hue, as stated by Mr. Gosse. The young birds are often taken from the nest and brought up without much difficulty. The cooing of this Dove is stated to much resemble the noise made by sounding a conch-shell.

The eggs of the Zenaida Dove are more rounded in their shape than those of most of our Pigeons, are white, equally obtuse at each end, and measure 1.30 inches in length by .90 in breadth.

Genus ZENAIDURA, Bonap.

Gen. Char. Bill weak, black; culmen from frontal feathers about one third the head above. Tarsus not quite as long as middle toe and claw, but considerably longer than the lateral ones; covered anteriorly by a single series of scutellæ. Inner lateral claw considerably longer than outer, and reaching to the base of middle. Wings pointed; second quill longest; first and third nearly equal. Tail very long, equal to the wings; excessively graduated and cuneate, of fourteen feathers.

The fourteen tail-feathers render this genus very conspicuous among the North American doves. It was formerly placed with the Passenger-Pigeon in Ectopistes, but has nothing in common with it but the lengthened tail, as it belongs to a different subfamily. At present three species are known, two of them recently described. Unless Z. yucatanensis proves to be a hybrid between Zenaida amabilis and Zenaidura carolinensis, it may be expedient to merge Zenaida and Zenaidura into one, since, if yucatanensis

prove to be a permanent form, the additional pair of tail-feathers is all that is left to characterize Zenaidura; and when we consider that the wedge-tailed Haliætus pelagicus has fourteen tail-feathers, while the round-tailed species have only twelve, it seems reasonable to consider the difference as merely specific in this case also.

1180 ♂ ⅔ ⅔

Zenaidura carolinensis.

A. Secondaries broadly tipped with white.

Z. yucatanensis.[107] Beneath entirely deep purplish-vinaceous. Wing, 6.00; tail, 4.90; culmen, .58; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .90. Hab. Yucatan.

B. Secondaries not tipped with white.

Z. carolinensis. Beneath light purplish-vinaceous anteriorly; crissum nearly white. Wing, 5.90; tail, 6.00; culmen, .50; tarsus, .86; middle toe, .82. Hab. Whole of North America, south to Panama; West Indies.

Z. graysoni.[108] Beneath entirely uniform deep reddish-cinnamon. Wing, 6.00; tail, 5.15; culmen, .84; tarsus, 1.08; middle toe, .97. Hab. Socorro Island, western coast of Mexico.

Zenaidura carolinensis, Bonap.
CAROLINA OR COMMON DOVE.

Columba carolinensis, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 286, No. 37.—Latham, Ind. II, 1790, 613.—Wilson, Am. Orn. V, 1812, 91, pl. xliii.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 91; V, 1839, 555, pl. xvii.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 626. Turtur carolinensis, Brisson, I, 110, pl. viii. Ectopistes carolinensis, Rich. List, 1837.—Bon. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 36, pl. cclxxxvi. Zenaidura carolinensis, Bonap. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 84 (type).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 604.—Reichenb. Handb. Taub. 19, tab. 249, f. 1380–82.—Coop. & Suckl. 218.—Coop. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 512. Perissura carolinensis, Cab. Cab. Jour. 1856, 111, 112 (type). Columba marginata, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 286, No. 40 (best description).—Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 91.—Ib. Isis, 1831, 519. Ectopistes marginata, Gray, List, Br. Mus. ? Ectopistes marginellus, Woodhouse, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, June, 1852, 104.—Ib. Expl. Zuñi & Color. 1853, 93; Birds, pl. v (Canadian river, Ark. Immature bird). ? Zenaidura marginalla, Bonap. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 85.

Sp. Char. Tail-feathers fourteen. Above bluish, although this is overlaid with light brownish-olive, leaving the blue pure only on the top of the head, the exterior of the wings, and the upper surface of the tail, which is even slightly tinged with this color. The entire head, except the vertex, the sides of the neck, and the under parts generally, light brownish-vinaceous, strongly tinged with purple on the breast, becoming lighter behind, and passing into brownish-yellow or creamy-ochraceous on the anal region, tibiæ, and under tail-coverts. Sides of the neck with a patch of metallic purplish-red. Sides of body and inside of wings clear light blue. Wing-coverts and scapulars spotted with black, mostly concealed, and a small oblong patch of the same, with a steel-blue reflection, below the ear. Tail-feathers seen from below blackish, the outer web of outermost white, the others tipped with the same, the color becoming more and more bluish to the innermost, which is brown. Seen from above there is the same gradation from white to light blue in the tips; the rest of the feather, however, is blue, with a bar of black anterior to the light tip, which runs a little forward along the margin and shaft of the feather. In the sixth feather the color is uniform bluish, with this bar; the seventh is without a bar. Bill black, the angle of the mouth carmine. Female smaller, and with less red beneath. Length of male, 12.85; wing, 5.75; tail, 6.70. Bare orbits pale blue, with a green tint; iris dark brown; feet lake-red. Young with the feathers of upper parts and jugulum margined with paler; the tints more brownish.

Zenaidura carolinensis.

Hab. Throughout United States from Atlantic to Pacific. Cuba; Middle America to Panama. Localities: Oaxaca (Scl. 1859, 391); Cordova (1856, 359); Guatemala (Ibis, I, 222); Cuba (Cab. J. IV, III; Gundl. Rep. I, 1866, 301); Honduras (Taylor, Ibis, II, 227); Southeastern Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1866, 24, breeds); Fort Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 93); Costa Rica (Lawr. IX, 139); Yucatan (IX, 207).

Specimens from the whole of North America, south to Costa Rica and the West India Islands, are identical in colors and proportions.

Specimens from Cuba, Jamaica, and other West India Islands, resemble examples from the eastern United States, but are considerably smaller, the wing measuring less than 5.50 inches. The dark blotches on the wings appear of unusual size, the rufous tinge on the back is more decided, and the under parts are more deeply colored. In these respects they resemble somewhat skins from Cape St. Lucas, collected by Mr. Xantus.

Habits. The Carolina Dove is found throughout the United States, in nearly all parts, from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. It occurs also in the West Indies, in Mexico, and in Central America. It is found in the southern part of Maine as far to the eastward as Calais, but was not collected by Mr. Verrill at Norway, and is not known to occur in the northern part of that State. Farther west, it is met with to the Canada line; a few being known to breed near Hamilton, and others to pass the winter near Salt Springs, according to Mr. McIlwraith. They occur with more or less abundance in different parts of Massachusetts, but are generally quite rare except in one or two localities. In nearly all the rest of the United States they are widely and generally distributed, and often abundant. In some parts of the country they are cherished for their confiding trust in the protection of man; while in others they are hunted on account of their delicacy as food, and are very shy and difficult of approach. In Carlisle, Penn., I found them one of the most common birds, frequenting the gardens and orchards, and breeding often in close proximity to the houses. In Western Massachusetts, on the other hand, where they were once quite abundant, they have been so persistently hunted that they are very shy, and have become quite rare.

In Kansas and in Colorado they were frequently found by Mr. Allen, and in the latter region also by Messrs. Aiken and Holden. On the Plains, in the absence of any trees in which to build, they were in the habit of constructing their nests on the ground, in some instances depositing their eggs in a mere depression in the sand, with hardly any pretence for a nest.

This bird was obtained in Tamaulipas, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch; at Ringgold Barracks, Texas, by Mr. J. H. Clark; near San Elizario, by Dr. Kennerly; and on the Colorado, by Mr. Schott. Mr. Clark found the vicinity of Ringgold Barracks a great resort for many birds of this family for the purpose of nesting; the luxuriant development of the Opuntia, and other vegetation equally impassable, affording the means of defence. Hundreds of at least half a dozen species were to be seen every evening on the banks of the river after water. Lieutenant Couch found it in great numbers from the Rio Grande to beyond the Sierra Madre, generally near the ranches, though often in the forests. It seemed inclined to court the society of man for protection and food. It was also very abundant, according to Dr. Kennerly, in the vicinity of San Elizario, banding in large flocks, and feeding in the wheat and corn fields. It was also observed as far west as Santa Cruz, in Sonora.

Dr. Newberry met with this Dove in all parts of California and Oregon visited by him. Dr. Suckley mentions it as very abundant throughout Washington Territory and Oregon. At Fort Steilacoom it arrives and departs at about the same time as the Columba fasciata. Dr. Cooper states it to be common about prairies and farms of the interior, and probably some remain all winter in the Territory, though they rarely appear at any time near the coast border.

Dr. Kennerly found this species about Bill Williams Fork, in New Mexico, and also in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas, and along the Gulf coast; but travelling west about two hundred miles from the former place, they seemed suddenly to disappear.

According to Mr. Salvin, this Dove was very abundant about Dueñas, inhabiting only the open districts. It congregated in flocks, and was resident. Mr. G. C. Taylor frequently met with it in Honduras, where they were generally seen in small flocks of from six to ten.

Dr. Woodhouse mentions that the mournful notes of these birds were to be heard continually throughout the Indian Territory and the greater part of Texas and New Mexico, in all of which countries it breeds.

Mr. Dresser found this Dove a familiar resident in every part of Texas and Mexico that he visited. He saw many of their nests, all slightly built of sticks placed on the branch of a mesquite tree or bush, containing two pure-white eggs. In two instances the nests were on the ground. He met with one nest with fresh eggs as late as September 7.

These birds are migratory in the Northern States, and partially so in the Middle States, their movements being irregular, and evidently dependent upon the abundance of their food. In North and South Carolina, and in other parts of the country south of Pennsylvania, they collect together in the winter months in considerable numbers. Wilson states that on the 2d of February he saw a flock of many hundreds of these birds near Newbern, N. C.; and near the Savannah River, in Georgia, the woods were swarming with them. They return to the North in March or early in April, and disperse very generally over the country in pairs, rarely more than two or three of these being seen together. They are then occasionally to be seen in roads, dusting themselves or procuring gravel. Where not molested, they often visit the farm-yards, and even occasionally feed with the poultry, take water from the drinking-places of the cattle, and become partially domesticated.

When their breeding-season is over, usually early in August, they again collect in small flocks, which unite in larger collections when they move southward in their migrations.

Their flight is rapid, vigorous, and strong, and the flapping of their wings is accompanied by a peculiar whistling sound. They can fly with great swiftness, can readily alight on trees, and move with facility among the branches.

Their love-notes, which commence in the early spring, are celebrated for their peculiarly sad and touching plaintiveness of sound, though the birds themselves exhibit in their appearance and manners at this time anything but an appearance of grief or mourning, being exceedingly lively and sportive in their endearments. These notes are repeated almost continually, in a succession of four or five notes sounding like ah-coo-roo-coo or ah-cōō-rōō-cōō-rōō.

This Pigeon feeds on seeds, grain, buckwheat, Indian corn, the berries of various shrubs and plants, and the smaller acorns of the live-oak and other oaks. They are also accused of visiting the gardens and consuming peas. They swallow great quantities of gravel.

In Pennsylvania they are said to nest as early as the first of May. They probably have more than one brood in a season, as the nests found at Carlisle about the middle of June were found to contain perfectly fresh eggs. Their nest is a rudely constructed fabric of small twigs laid together in an inartistic manner, and lined with a few finer stems and rootlets, and is placed on the horizontal branch of a tree, in a vine or evergreen, or even on the ground. The last was the general position of their nests on the Plains, and occasionally is noticed at the East. Wilson found nests thus placed in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Dr. Coues mentions this bird as an abundant summer resident in Arizona, where it arrives the last week in April and remains into October. The presence of this bird on the dry sandy wastes of that Territory always proved a sure indication of the presence of water, the nature of its food, consisting ordinarily of dry hard seeds, rendering an abundant supply of water necessary to its existence.

Mr. Audubon states that these birds breed in Louisiana in April, and sometimes as early as March, and have there two broods. They roost at night on the ground, among the long grasses found growing in abandoned fields; and occasionally they resort to the dead foliage of trees, and to various kinds of evergreens. Their flesh is said to be remarkably fine, tender and juicy, especially when the birds are fat, and by some is regarded as superior to that of either the Snipe or the Woodcock.

This Dove can easily be induced to breed in aviaries, even though caught when old, and will have several broods in a season.

In Southern Illinois they have been observed by Mr. Ridgway to breed in various situations, either on the ground in grain-fields, on the tops of stumps, or the top of a rail fence, as well as in trees and bushes. They nest from the beginning of April to the middle of September. They were also remarkably abundant along the line of the 40th parallel, according to Mr. Ridgway, even in the most desert tracts.

The eggs of this species measure 1.15 inches in length by .86 in breadth; they are of an oblong-oval shape, white in color, and nearly equal at either extremity.

Genus SCARDAFELLA, Bonap.

Scardafella, Bon. Conspectus, II, 1854, 85. (Type, Columba squamosa, Temm.)

33658 ½ ½

Scardafella inca.

Gen. Char. Bill lengthened; culmen more than half the length of the head measured from frontal feathers. Feet as in Chamæpelia. Wing with the tertials nearly as long as the primaries; shorter, however, than the first primary. Tail considerably longer than the wing, of twelve feathers, of peculiar shape; the ten middle feathers nearly even, or very slightly decreasing toward the sides, but the intermediæ considerably shorter, while the lateral pair are much the shortest; the feathers are narrow, especially toward the end, but the tip is obtuse.

Two species are known; one North American, the other confined to South America.

Species and Varieties.

Common Characters. Brownish-gray above, paler, and with a vinaceous cast anteriorly, beneath. Each feather with a terminal dusky crescentic bar, producing a squamate appearance; inner webs of quills chestnut; axillars black; about terminal half of three outer tail-feathers white.

S. squamosa.[109] A white patch on the wing-coverts and secondaries; abdomen and crissum white. Black crescentic bars very heavy. Wing, 3.90; tail, 4.10. Hab. Brazil, Ecuador.

S. inca. No white patch on wings; abdomen and crissum pale ochraceous. Black bars very faint on breast, obsolete on throat. Wing, 3.75; tail, 4.40. Hab. Mexico and Guatemala; Rio Grande of Texas.

Scardafella inca, Bonap.
SCALY DOVE.

Scardafella inca, (Bonap.) Scl. P. Z. S. 1859, 391.—Reichenb. Handb. 19, tab. 250, f. 1393; tab. 253, f. 1410.—Elliot, Illust. II, pl. xxxvii.—Coop. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 519. Scardafella squamosa (“Temm.”) Wagl. Isis, 1831, 519 (not of Temminck!).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 605.

Sp. Char. Above ashy-brown, becoming purer and lighter ashy on the wings. Beneath pale ashy-lilaceous, with a pinkish tinge anteriorly, becoming pale ochraceous on the abdomen, tibiæ, and crissum. Outer webs and ends of primaries, and tail-feathers (except the intermediæ), dusky. Every feather (except rectrices and primaries) terminated with a crescentic bar of dusky; these bars heaviest on the mantle, upper tail-coverts, and on the sides and flanks, faintest on the jugulum, obsolete on throat. Primaries and lining of wing mostly deep chestnut; axillars black; lateral tail-feather with the terminal half white, on both webs; second and third feathers with a gradually decreasing amount of white. Sexes similar. Young similar, but feathers faintly mottled, and markings less sharply defined. Wing, 3.75; tail, 4.40; culmen, .47; tarsus, .57; middle toe, .58. Female a little smaller.

Hab. Rio Grande Valley, south to Guatemala. Arizona (Tucson, Bendire); Oaxaca (Scl. 1859, 391, eggs); Cordova (1856, 309); Guatemala (Ibis I, 223); Honduras (Taylor, Ibis, II, 227); City of Mexico (Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, 178.)

Scardafella inca.

Specimens from Nicaragua to Texas and Mazatlan do not vary appreciably.

Habits. Our information in regard to the distribution and habits of this species is quite incomplete. It was met with near Cadereita, in the State of New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, who procured a specimen April 18, 1853.

It was also found in flocks in company with Chamæpelia rufipennis, near San Pedro and Peten, Honduras, by Leyland. Mr. Salvin met with only a single specimen at Dueñas. On the coast it was more numerous, resembling in its habits the common species of the district, Chamæpelia passerina.

The “Long-tailed Ground Dove” is said by Mr. G. C. Taylor to be very common in Honduras, where it is generally seen in pairs. They were found to be very good eating, but too small to repay their cost where ammunition was so scarce.

It was found breeding near Laredo, Texas, by Dr. H. B. Butcher, July 1, 1866. The nest (S. I. 12,896) is said to have been built in the fork of a small mesquite-tree, and to have contained two eggs. The eggs are similar to those of the Chamæpelia passerina, white, of an oval shape, nearly equally obtuse at either end.

Mr. Xantus found this Dove breeding abundantly at Cape St. Lucas. The maximum number of eggs was invariably two. One nest was found in a leafless acacia about six feet from the ground; another, found May 26, was about five feet high, in a small thorn-bush; a third was at the height of eight feet, and also placed in a bush; others were placed in small oaks, in cacti, in opuntia, and other situations, all above the ground at heights varying from five to eight feet.

The eggs of this Dove are of a white color, are oval in their shape, of about equal size at either end, and measure .91 of an inch in length by .70 in breadth.

Genus CHAMÆPELIA, Swainson.

Chamæpelia, Swainson, Zool. Jour. III, 1827, 361. (Type, Columba passerina, L.)

Gen. Char. Size very small. Bill slender, elongated. Culmen more than half the head measured from frontal feathers. Legs stout. Tarsi longer than lateral toes; equal to the middle without its claw; covered anteriorly by a single series of scutellæ. Wings broad; the tertials excessively lengthened, nearly as long as the primaries, quite equal to the first primary. Tail nearly as long as the wings; rounded laterally.

12535 ♂ ½ ½

Chamæpelia passerina.

This group embraces the most diminutive Doves known to naturalists. A single species is found abundantly in the southern United States; another is found in northern South America. They may be distinguished as follows:—

C. passerina. Feathers of jugulum with a dusky central spot; occiput and nape squamated with dusky. Hab. Southern Atlantic and Gulf States, whole of Mexico (including Lower California), Central America, New Granada, Venezuela, and West Indies.

C. griseola.[110] No central dusky spot to feathers of jugulum, and no scale-like markings on occiput or nape. Hab. Brazil and New Granada.

Chamæpelia passerina, Swainson.
GROUND DOVE.

Columba passerina, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 285.—Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 611.—Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 15, pl. xlvi.—Wagler, Syst. Av. Columba, No. 88.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 471; V, 1839, 558, pl. clxxxii.—Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 19, pl. cclxxxiii.—Sund. Ofv. 1869, 586 (St. Bartholemy.) Columba (Goura) passerina, Bonap. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 181.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 635. Chæmepelia passerina, Swainson, Zool. Jour. III, 1827, 358. Chamæpelia passerina, Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, II, 1854, 77.—Gosse, Birds Jamaica, 1847, 311.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 606.—Scl. P. Z. S. 1859, 391 (Oaxaca); 1857, 205 (Xalapa); Ibis, I, 223 (Guatemala); P. Z. S. 1864, 178 (City of Mexico).—Cab. J. IV, III (Cuba).—Bryant, B. Pr. 1866 (Porto Rico).—Lawr. Ann. Lyc. IX, 134 (Costa Rica), 207 (Yucatan).—March, P. A. N. S. 1863, 302 (Jamaica).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 516. Pyrgitænas passerinus, Reichenb. Handb. Taub. 13 (1861 ?), tab. 266, f. 2875–78; tab. 256, f. 1419, 1420. Chamæpelia granatina, Bonap. Consp. II, 77 (Bogota). Chamæpelia albivitta, Bonap. Consp. II, 77 (Carthagena). Chamæpelia var. pallescens, Baird, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1859 (Cape St. Lucas).—Cooper Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 517.

Sp. Char. Back, rump, exposed surface of tertials, and tail above, uniform grayish-olive; neck above and occiput tinged with bluish; forehead, sides of head, and neck, under parts generally, and lesser upper wing-coverts, light purplish-red, tinged with dusky towards the tail. Feathers of the head, neck, and fore-breast, margined with a darker shade of the ground-color; the forehead and chin, only, nearly uniform. Feathers of the breast dusky-brown in the centre, this most conspicuous on the jugulum. Under wing-coverts, axillars, and quills, brownish-orange; the latter margined externally and tipped with dusky-brown, the tertials almost entirely of this color. Middle tail-feathers like the back; the others mostly black, the outer one edged towards the tip with white. The exposed surface of the wing variously marked with blotches exhibiting black, steel-blue, and violet. Bill and feet yellow; the former tipped with brown. Female with little or none of the purplish-red. Young duller than the adult female, the feathers of upper parts with a narrow terminal bar of white. Length, 6.30; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.80.

Chamæpelia passerina.

Hab. South Atlantic and Gulf coasts; very rarely as far north as Washington. Southern and Lower California; whole of Middle America, to New Granada and Venezuela; West Indies.

Specimens vary considerably in the depth of the vinaceous tints, but the variation is nearly as much with the individual as with the locality. As a rule, Florida and West India skins are most deeply colored, those from Mexico (particularly from Cape St. Lucas and Orizaba) being much paler in all the tints (var. pallescens, Baird); but specimens from Guatemala and Costa Rica are undistinguishable from the average of the Florida series. Specimens from New Granada (labelled C. granatina, Bonap.), Venezuela (labelled C. albivitta), and the Amazons, are more like Cape St. Lucas specimens, differing from them only in slightly smaller size, the colors being the same in the minutest particulars, except that the crissum is perhaps more whitish, the dusky centres of the feathers being more concealed. These generalizations are based on fifty-six specimens in the Smithsonian Museum.

Habits. According to Mr. Audubon, this Dove is found from the lower parts of Louisiana to Cape Hatteras, following the coast quite round Florida, but is seen very seldom to any distance in the interior. He met with none in the State of Mississippi. They were more abundant among the sea-islands of Georgia and the middle portions of the coast of East Florida than anywhere else.

This bird has also been taken at Monterey, California, by W. Hutton, and a single accidental specimen has been obtained near Washington, D. C.

Specimens were obtained near Matamoras, in Tamaulipas, by Dr. Berlandier, and subsequently by Lieutenant Couch, who generally found them in the forests or open fields at a distance from dwellings. They were observed to fly low, and only for short distances, and to spend most of their time on the ground.

In Jamaica, according to Mr. March, the Ground Dove sometimes perches, and always roosts, on low trees; but is otherwise generally found in pairs, feeding on the ground on small grain and seeds. Several pairs may be seen feeding together, but they do not associate. It is said to be very tame, and to be found about homesteads and in streets and roads. It also breeds in low trees, the cashew and the dogwood seeming to be preferred. It is very rarely kept as a cage-bird, as its note is a plaintive mournful coo, and there is a Creole superstition that misfortune will happen to any one so treating it. The nest is slightly made of twigs, lined with grass, and built in a fork or hollow. The eggs are two, of a rounded oval, white, .87 of an inch by .69.

According to Mr. Salvin, this Dove is one of the most familiar birds of the central region of Guatemala, where it is the only small Ground Dove found. In the coast region its place was supplied by at least two other species. It is abundant at Dueñas, residing all the year, and breeding in the cochineal plantations, where it deposits its eggs, two in number, on the ground under the rows of “nopal.” It is called Tortolita by the inhabitants. He found its nests both on the ground and elevated a few feet above it.

Mr. Dresser found these birds common near Matamoras, and generally noticed them on the road between Matamoras and Brownsville, as well as on a sand-plain close to Fort Brown, on the Texan side of the river. In the interior of Texas he did not meet with any, except once, in April, on the Medina near San Antonio.

Mr. Audubon describes the flight of this Dove as low, easy, and accompanied by a whistling sound, produced by the action of the wings when the bird is surprised and forced to fly. it is less protracted than that of most other species, and seldom extends more than a hundred yards at a time. It seems much attached to its chosen locality, and almost immediately returns to it after having been driven away. While it alights on trees and moves with ease among the branches, and mostly nests in low trees or bushes, the ground is its usual place of resort, where it runs with facility, and in moving always keeps its tail considerably elevated. It appeared to be fond of alighting on fences, where it can be heard cooing for half an hour at a time.

These Pigeons are met with in groups of four or five, and seldom more than ten or twelve are seen together. They appear to prefer the thinly grassed sandy portions of cotton-fields, pea-patches, and similar places. In East Florida they may even be seen in the villages, resorting to the orange-groves and breeding in them. At St. Augustine they are often found within the inner court of the old Spanish fort, rising almost perpendicularly in order to escape above the parapets. They are easily caught, and readily become domesticated. A pair taken when their young were quite small, and placed in an aviary, continued to nourish them until full-grown, and afterwards raised a second brood from the same nest. They were fed on rice and other small grain.

The nest of this species is described as compact, and as large for the size of the bird. It is composed of dry twigs externally, and within is made of dry grasses disposed in a circular form. This is usually built in hedges or low bushes, and among the branches of orange-trees. The eggs are two, pure white, and with one end usually much more obtuse than the other. They are two in number, but, as Mr. Audubon states, occasionally the nest contains three. Two broods are raised in a season.

In the vicinity of Charleston these birds were observed to remain all the year, though the greater proportion retired south or to the sea-islands.

In the Florida Keys Mr. Audubon met with them among the islands resorted to by the Zenaida Doves, and also on Sandy Island, near Cape Sable. In the latter place they were so gentle that he approached to within two yards of them. Their nest was on the top of a cactus, not more than two feet from the ground.

Their food, in a wild state, consists of grass-seeds and various small berries, with which they swallow a large proportion of gravel to assist digestion. They are extremely fond of dusting themselves in the sand, lying down in it in the manner of various gallinaceous birds.

The eggs of this species are of a uniform bright white color, are slightly more pointed at one end than at the other, and measure .85 of an inch in length by .63 in breadth.

This species was found in abundance at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus. They were nesting from April 15 until August 29, and evidently had two or more broods in a season. Their nests were usually placed in low cactuses, near the ground, or in small shrubs. Their nests, eggs, and general habits, so far as we can gather them from the meagre notes of Mr. Xantus, are in no wise different from those of the more eastern birds.

PLATE LVIII.

Genus OREOPELEIA, Reichenbach.

Oreopeleia, Reichenbach, Handbuch der speciellen Ornithol. I, i, 1851, page xxiv. (Type, Columba martinica, L.)

Gen. Char. Bill lengthened, slender; culmen half the rest of the head from the frontal feathers. Feet large, stout; tarsi longer than the middle toe and claw, covered anteriorly by transverse scutellæ. Inner lateral claw longer than outer; reaching beyond the base of the middle one, the outer falling short of it. Hind toe and claw more than half the middle. Quills and tail-feathers very broad; the wings rounded; second and third quills longest, the first intermediate between the fourth and fifth. Tail suborbicular, the shafts convex outwardly; the feathers rounded, and a little graduated.

Of this genus, which is peculiar to America, two well-marked species, may be distinguished.

O. martinica. Above chestnut-rufous, the crown and nape with purplish-green, the lower part of nape with golden-green, the back with violet, the other upper parts with bright purplish-red reflections; beneath pinkish-white, more purplish on the jugulum. A distinctly marked light stripe on the cheek, bordered below by one of purplish-red. Length, 10.70; wing, 6.20; tail, 5.75. Hab. Key West, Florida (?) Cuba, and Martinique.

O. montana.[111] Above deep orange-rufous, without bright reflections, but with an opaque gloss of reddish-purple on the back and nape. Beneath ochraceous, inclining to vinaceous on the jugulum. Cheeks without distinct whitish bar bordered below by reddish. Wing, 5.70. Hab. Atlantic region of Middle America from Xalapa to Brazil; West Indies.

Oreopeleia martinica, Reich.
KEY WEST PIGEON.

Columba martinica, Gmelin, I, 1788, 781 (not of Temminck). Geotrygon martinica, Bonap. Consp. Av. II, 1854, 74.—Cab. Jour. IV, 1856, 108. Oreopeleia martinicana, Reich. Syst. Av. 1851, page xxv.—Ib. “Icones Avium, tab. 257, fig. 1431.” Columba montana, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 382, pl. clxvii.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 191.—Ib. Birds Am. V, 1842, 14, pl. cclxxxii.—Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 756 (not of Linnæus). Zenaida montana, Bonap. Geog. & Comp. List, 1838. “Columbigallina montana, Temminck.” “Columba mystacea, Lembeye,” Bonap. (not of Temminck). Oreopeleia martinica, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 607.—Cab. J. IV, 109 (Cuba).—Gundl. Repert. Cub. I, 1866, 299 (Cuba).—Reich. Handb. Taub. 31, tab. 257, fig. 1432.

Sp. Char. Ground-color of the upper parts, including wing (both surfaces), and tail-feathers, chestnut-rufous; the upper part of head and neck with metallic reflections of green and purple; the back, rump, and wing-coverts, with reflections of metallic light-purplish or violet. There is a white band from the lower mandible along side of the head, bordered below by purplish-red, like the forehead, and a similar band through the eyes, which are without metallic lustre. The breast is very light purplish-red, fading to white towards the tail and chin. The feathers of the under tail-coverts are dusky-brown at the base. Length, 10.70; wing, 6.00; tail, 5.75.

Hab. Key West, Florida; Cuba and Martinique, perhaps elsewhere in the West Indies.

41876 ♂ ½ ½

Oreopeleia martinica.

Habits. The Key West Pigeon is found within the fauna of the United States only in the extreme southern portion of Florida, and, so far as known, only on the island of Key West, where Mr. Audubon met with them, and enjoyed a limited opportunity of observing their habits. He describes the flight as low, swift, and protracted, as he saw them passing from Cuba to Key West. They moved in loose flocks of from five or six to a dozen, and so very low as to almost seem to touch the surface. They were fond of going out early in the morning from their thickets to cleanse their plumage in the shelly sand, but on the least approach of danger would fly back to the thickest part of the woods, throw themselves on the ground, and run off with great rapidity. Their movements of the tail and neck are similar to those of the Carolina Dove. Their coo is said to be neither so soft nor so prolonged as that of the common Dove, and may be represented by the syllable whoe-whoe-oh-oh-oh. When suddenly approached, they utter a guttural gasping sound. They are said to alight on the lower branches of shrubby trees, and to delight in the neighborhood of shady ponds, always inhabiting by preference the darkest solitudes. Whatever may have been their abundance on Key West, in Mr. Audubon’s time, it is certain that they are very rare there now, as I am not aware of their having been taken of late years by any of the numerous collectors who have visited South Florida since Mr. Audubon’s time.

Oreopeleia martinica.

The nest is described as formed of light dry twigs, in shape much resembling that of the Carolina Dove. Occasionally it is placed on the ground, and is then less elaborate. Some are placed on large branches near the ground, while others are built among slender twigs.

Towards the middle of July, according to Mr. Audubon, they become so abundant that sportsmen are able to shoot a score or more in a day. They feed on berries and the seeds of various plants, and are especially fond of the fruit of the sea-grape.

Genus STARNŒNAS, Bonaparte.

Starnœnas, Bonaparte, Geog. & Comp. List, 1838. (Type, Columba cyanocephala, L.)

Gen. Char. Bill short; culmen about one third the rest of head, measured from the frontal feathers. Legs very stout and large; tarsus bare on the entire tibial joint, and covered with hexagonal scales, largest anteriorly, longer than the middle toe and claw. Inner lateral claw the larger, reaching the base of the middle claw; all the claws short, thick, and blunt. Hind toe and claw short; half the middle. Wings short, broad, and concave; much rounded. Tail short, broad, nearly even, but slightly vaulted.

The single species of Dove composing the genus in many respects resembles the Partridges or Quails, both in external appearance and in manners.

Starnœnas cyanocephala, Bon.
BLUE-HEADED PIGEON.

Columba cyanocephala, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 282.—Gmelin, Syst. I, 1788, 778.—Wagler, Syst. Avium, 1827, Columba, No. 112.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 441; V. 1839, 557, pl. clxxii. Starnœnas cyanocephala, Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. II, 1854, 69.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 193.—Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 23, pl. cclxxxiv.—Gundlach, Cab. Journ. IV, 1856, 108.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 608.—Cab. J. IV, 108 (Cuba).—Gundl. Repert. Cub. I, 1866, 299.—Reichenb. Handb. Taub. 30, tab. 257, f. 1431; 266, f. 2879–81. Starnœnas cyanocephala, Reichenbach, Systema Av. 1851, p. xxv, pl. xxiii.—Ib. Icones Av. tab. 260 and 266. Geophilus? cyanocephala, Selby, Pigeons, Jard. Nat. Lib. V, 216, pl. xxvii. Columba (Lophyrus) cyanocephala, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d. ed.,) 1840, 769. Columba tetraoides, (Scopoli,) Gmelin, I, 772. Blue-headed Turtle, Latham, Syn. II, II, 651.

Sp. Char. Bill blue, the fleshy part at the base carmine. Iris brown, scales of feet carmine, the interspaces white. Above and on sides glossy dark chocolate-olivaceous; beneath brownish-red, lighter centrally. Chin and throat black, with a narrow border of white below. A white line begins in the chin, and passes under the eye to the occiput. Sides of head above this and forehead black; crown blue. Length, 10.70; wing, 5.40; tail, 4.35.

Hab. West India Islands; according to Audubon found occasionally at Key West, Florida, and other southern keys.

2827 ♂ ½ ½

Starnœnas cyanocephala.

The axillars and under surface of the wings are like the belly. The crissum is most like the back. The outer tail-feathers have a bluish tinge above.

The hind toe in this species is not strictly in the same plane with the others, but placed a little above their point of insertion.

Habits. This handsome Pigeon belongs to the fauna of the West India Islands, and is only an occasional visitant of Key West and other southern keys of Florida. They are a common species in Cuba, from which island a few are stated by Mr. Audubon to migrate each year to certain of the keys of Florida, where, however, they are rarely seen on account of their living only in the most tangled thickets. Mr. Audubon saw a pair on the western side of Key West. They were near the water picking gravel, but they would not suffer a near approach. He saw a pair, also, that had been taken, when young, on “Mule Keys.” These fed well on cracked corn and rice, but he was unable to obtain any further information in respect to them.

Though abundant in Cuba this species does not appear to have been found in Jamaica, except as an imported bird from the former island, contrary to the assertions of various writers, as Temminck, Brisson, and others. Mr. Gosse was not able to trace its presence, though its existence among the precipitous woods on the north side of that island he regards as quite possible.

Starnœnas cyanocephala.

Like Oreopeleia martinica and Zenaida amabilis, this species, though described by Audubon as not being rare on the keys of South Florida, has not been met with in that State by later explorers.

An egg of this species laid in confinement in the aviary of Dr. Bachman, in Charleston, S. C., is of a rounded-oval shape, and of a uniform creamy-white color; it measures 1.43 inches in length by 1.10 in breadth.

Family CRACIDÆ.—The Curassows.

Char. Body large, but rather slender; bill more or less arched; tail lengthened; legs long, robust, without any spur. Toes moderate, slender, the hinder scarcely elevated. Naked spaces frequently occurring on the head and throat.

Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, in their masterly and model monograph of Cracidæ (Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1870, 504), define the subfamilies as follows:—

A. Post-acetabular area narrow; upper mandible higher than broad; culmen compressed … I. Cracinæ.

B. Post-acetabular area broad; upper mandible broader than high; culmen depressed.

Top of head covered with feathers; space between the nostrils naked; nostrils exposed … II. Penelopinæ.

Top of head with a bony tubercle; internasal space densely feathered; nostrils concealed … III. Oreophasinæ.

By the term “post-acetabular area” is understood that portion of the dorsal aspect of the pelvis which is bounded in front by a line drawn through the acetabula.

The Cracinæ, or Curassows, are found in Mexico, in Central and in South America; the Oreophasinæ are represented by a single species, Oreophasis derbianus, a bird nearly as large as a Turkey, occurring in the wooded region of the Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala, at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Of the Penelopinæ one species only is found in the United States.

Subfamily PENELOPINÆ.

This is the most extensive section of Cracidæ, embracing, according to Sclater and Salvin, no less than thirty-nine species. The genera indicated are as follows:—

A. A central fold of skin on the throat.

Outer quills narrow, but entire.

Throat feathered … 1. Stegnolæma.

Throat naked.

Sexes similar … 2. Penelope.

Sexes different … 3. Penelopina.

Outer quills emarginated.

Gular fold short … 4. Pipile.

Gular fold lengthened; linear … 5. Aburria.

B. No central gular fold.

Throat feathered; outer quills emarginated … 6. Chamæpetes.

Throat naked; with a central line of bristly feathers; outer quills entire … 7. Ortalida.