NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 159 



this species to be more abundant than all the other pigeons combined, 

 and when they have begun breeding, all day long the air is filled with 

 the music of their cooing, drowning out the notes of most other birds. 

 They are the last of the doves to come in the spring and leave about 

 November. By the first of May eggs were found. Their color, Mr. 

 Sennett describes, as varying from white to cream, the latter prevailing, 

 and two is the number laid. From a large series the size averages 

 1. 14 x. 88; the. largest, I.22X.93, the smallest, i.o5x.88. 



Two sets of the eggs of this Dove are in the cabinet of J. Parker 

 Norris. One of two sets of eggs taken May i, 1884, in Neuces county, 

 Texas, measure i.iox.82, i.iox.Si. The second set collected near 

 Catulla, Texas, May n, 1887, measure 1.05 x .78, 1.08 x .79, respectively. 



320. Columbigallina passerina (LINN.) [465] 



Ground Dove. 



Hab. South Atlantic and Gulf States; Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, south to the West 

 Indies and the northern portion of South America. 



A diminutive Dove, measuring only six or seven inches in length. 

 Abundant in Mexico, Yucatan, Central America and the West Indies. 

 In the South Atlantic and Gulf States it is a common and familiar 

 species, nesting indiscriminately on the ground, on stumps, on vines, 

 bushes and young saplings. The nest is elevated sometimes as high as 

 twenty feet, but usually from two to six feet above the ground, and is 

 simply a frail structure of twigs, often containing pine needles. The 

 breeding season in Georgia begins early in April, and fresh eggs may be 

 found in May, June, and sometimes in July. Mr. Perry informs me 

 that in the vicinity of Savannah he has taken fresh eggs as late as July 

 9th. Mr. Arthur T. Wayne took a set of two eggs near Charleston, S. C., 

 October igth, 1886; these contained small embryos and the parent bird 

 was incubating.* This date, however, is exceptional. Mr. Walter 

 Hoxie, of Frogmore, S. C., states that this species is called Mourning 

 Dove by the natives, who used to have a superstition that any one who 

 molested their nest would be " mourned to death " by the grief-stricken 

 owners. The eggs are two in number, white or creamy in color ; a 

 large series averages .85 x .65. 



321. Scardafella inca (LESS.) [466.] 



Inca Dove. 



Hab. Southern border of the United States (Texas to Southern Arizona) south to Mexico and Guate- 

 mala. 



This species is known as the Scaled Dove ; nearly all the plumage 

 is marked with black cresentic-edged feathers, producing a scaly ap- 

 pearance. In various places in Southern Arizona, New Mexico, and 



"Ornithologist and Oologist : Vol. XII, p. 7. 



