Chapter XIX: Appendix: I. Additions and Corrections 499 (19)

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.

_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.

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.

_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.

_Zenaidura_, BONAP. Consp. Avium, II, 1854, 84. (Type, _Columba
carolinensis_, L.)
_Perissura_, CAB. Jour. für Orn. IV, 1856, 111. (Same type.)

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.

_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.

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.)

_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.)

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.

_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.

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.