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.