LEPTOPTILA. 259 
In Guatemala it is a resident species, and was very abundant at Duefias in 1861. 
L. brachyptera is a somewhat shy ground-bird, frequenting the forests. Its food 
consists of seeds and fruit. Both sexes share in the duties of incubation; the nest is 
said by Grayson to be placed upon the ground, whereas Mr. Lloyd states that it is 
rather a substantial structure made of straw and placed in thorny shrubs at a height 
of from ten to twelve feet. As Grayson was also writing about the bird of the ‘Tres 
Marias, as well as that of Mazatlan, his notes on the nesting may refer to the island- 
form. The eggs are two in number, creamy-buff in colour, with a smooth and glossy 
shell 74. 
2. Leptoptila fulviventris. 
Leptoptila brachyptera (nec Gray), Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 545 (part.)’. 
Leptoptila albifrons (nec Bp.), Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 207°; Sanchez, An. Mus. Nac. 
Mex. i. p. 105 (part.) *°; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 459 *. 
Leptoptila fulviventris, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 11. p. 287°. 
Engyptila fulviventris, Lawr. Ann. N, Y. Acad. Sci. i. p. 271°. 
L. brachyptere similis, sed abdomine et subcaudalibus ochrascenti-fulvis; hypochondriis quoque ochraceis, 
fronte vinaceo distinguenda; pedibus rubris; iride flava. Long. tota circa 10°5, ale 5:5, caude 3-4, 
culm. 0:8, tarsi 1-1. (Descr. femine ex Tizimin, Yucatan. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Mexico, Buctzotz, Izamal, Tizimin, Yucatan (Gawmer !+), Merida (Schott ?). 
Although the characters for the separation of L. fulviventris are very slight, they 
appear to be constant, and we are therefore induced to regard the Yucatan bird as 
a distinct race of Z. brachyptera. As Count Salvadori points out, however, the 
vinaceous forehead, which is one of the characters of L. fulviventris, is approached 
by specimens from other parts of Central America; but the ochraceous flanks are 
certainly different from the dark brown ones of L. brachyptera. We find, too, that 
the Tres Marias bird is more ochraceous than those from the Mexican mainland, but, 
as in other American Ground-Doves, the colour seems to vary in intensity, and some 
specimens are much paler than others. 
It is probably to this Pigeon that Gaumer refers 4 when he says that it 1s common 
in all parts of Yucatan, building its nest on the drooping branch of a tree. The flight, 
though usually noiseless, is sometimes accompanied by a whistling sound. 
3. Leptoptila capitalis. 
Leptoptila albifrons, Grayson, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. xiv. p. 274°; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. 
p- 805 (part.) *. 
Leptoptila brachyptera (part.), Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 545°. 
Leptoptila capitalis, Nelson, Pr. Biol. Soc. Washington, xii. p. 6°; N. Amer. Faun. no. 14, 
p. 36°. 
L. brachyptere similis, sed pallidior et rostro crassiore distinguenda. Long. tota circa 11:0, ale 6-1, 
caude 3°95, culm. 1:0, tarsi 1°35. 
33* 
