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.
