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.