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

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.) BonapWHITE-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.

13010 ♂ ½ ½

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.

Melopelia leucoptera.

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, BonapZENAIDA 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.

94 ♂ ½ ½

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.