THE STRIPED SPARROW-HAWK PIGEON (Geopeleia striata).
"All that we read or imagine of the softness and innocence of the Dove," says Captain Sturt, "is realised in this beautiful and delicate little bird. It is common on the Murray, and in various parts of the interior of Australia. Two remained with us at the depôt in latitude 39° 40´, longitude 142°, during a greater part of the winter, and on one occasion roosted on my tent-ropes, near a fire. The note of this species is exceedingly plaintive, and, although softer, much resembles the coo of the Turtle Dove."
"The Little Turtle Dove," says Gould, "is more frequently observed on the ground than among the trees. I sometimes met with it in small flocks, but more often in pairs. It runs over the ground with a short bobbing motion of the tail, and while feeding is so remarkably tame as almost to admit of its being taken by the hand; if forced to take wing it merely flies to the nearest tree, and there remains motionless among the branches. I not unfrequently observed it close to the open doors of the huts of the stock-keepers of the interior."
The nest is a frail and beautiful structure, formed of the stalks of a few flowering grasses, crossed and interwoven. "One sent me from Western Australia is composed," says Gilbert, "of a small species of knotted everlasting plant (Composita), and was placed on the overhanging grasses of the Xanthorrhæa. During my first visit to this part of the country, only two situations were known as places of resort to this species, and I did not meet with more than four or five couples; since that period it has become exceedingly abundant, and now a pair or two may occasionally be seen about most of the settlers' houses on the Avon, becoming apparently very tame, and familiarised to man. This bird utters a rather singular note, which at times somewhat resembles the distant crowing of a cock. The term Men-na-brun-ka is applied to it by natives, from a traditionary idea that the bird originally introduced the men-na, a kind of gum which exudes from a species of acacia, and which is one of the favourite articles of food among the natives."
The RUNNING PIGEONS (Geotrygones) are heavy, and powerfully framed, with rounded wings, the first primary quill of which is often much shortened; high, thick tarsi, and short toes. All the species belonging to this group occupy Southern and Central America.
THE PARTRIDGE DOVE.
The PARTRIDGE DOVE (Starnænas cyanocephala), the most remarkable of these birds, has a thick-set body, short wings, the slender, sabre-formed quills of which are pointed at the extremity, the third and fourth being longer than the rest, and a moderately long and rounded tail; the high, broad, and very strong beak is vaulted at its culmen; the feet are long, with thick tarsi and short fleshy toes, armed with large and very decidedly hooked claws. The plumage is dense, and the cheek-stripes bare, overspread with small, oval warts. A beautiful chocolate-brown predominates in the coloration of the feathers, shading into reddish brown on the mantle, and into rich deep red upon the breast. The crown of the head and a few scale-like feathers on the throat are slate-blue; the face, nape, and throat, black; the cheek-stripes, and a line on the lower part of the throat, pure white; the wings dark brown, edged with reddish brown, and shaded with deep grey on the lower side; the centre tail-feathers are chocolate-brown, and those at the sides blackish brown. The eye is dark brown; the beak bright coral-red at the base and greyish blue at the tip; the foot is pale reddish white, with horny plates of deep carmine-red; the toes are deep blueish red, and the skin between them sky-blue. This species is twelve inches long and seventeen broad; the wing and tail each measure five inches.
The island of Cuba must be considered as the native country of these splendid birds, from whence they spread northwards to Florida, southwards to Venezuela. They appear, according to Burmeister, to approach the upper tracts of land near the river Amazon, but do not come farther southwards. It is questionable if they are found in Jamaica. Gosse says, "The Spanish Partridge Dove (Cyanocephala) is not considered as indigenous in Jamaica, though it is frequently imported thither from Cuba." Audubon met with several of them in Florida, and states that "A few of these birds migrate each spring from the island of Cuba to the keys of Florida, but are rarely seen, on account of the deep tangled woods in which they live. Early in May, 1832, while on a shooting excursion, I saw a pair of them on the western side of Key West. They were near the water, picking gravel, but on our approaching them they ran back into the thickets, which were only a few yards distant. Several fishermen and wreckers informed us that they were more abundant on the Mule Keys, but although a large party, including myself, searched these islands for a whole day, not one did we discover there. I saw a pair which I was told had been caught when young on the latter keys, but I could not obtain any other information respecting them than that they were fed upon cracked corn and rice, which answered the purpose well."
Grundlach tells us that the nest of the Partridge Dove is built of twigs and placed amongst the parasitical plants that entwine themselves around the branches of their favourite forest trees. We are without any reliable information concerning the manner of incubation or the appearance of the eggs.