A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 3

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.

1180 ♂ ⅔ ⅔

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, BonapCAROLINA 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.

Zenaidura carolinensis.

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.)

33658 ½ ½

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, BonapSCALY 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.)

Scardafella inca.