peters: birds of the Dominican republic. 407 



Salado, March 7, was the only specimen positively identified. There 

 is a specimen in the M. C. Z. from Puerto Plata taken by Frazar^ 

 January 16, 1883. 



40. Chaemepelia passerina insularis (Ridgway). 



Rolito. 



Ten specimens, both sexes, Monte Cristi, Sosua. 



An abundant resident everv'where except in the forests. Ground 

 doves were particularly numerous in the desert of the lower Yaqui 

 Valley where it was not unusual to find flocks of nearly a dozen 

 individuals feeding by the roadside. When disturbed they sometimes 

 made a short flight into the near by cactus brush, but more often took 

 wing for a little distance down the road. They are often absent for 

 over a considerable area in the rain-forest section on the northeast 

 portion of the island. 



During late ]\Iarch and early April the males utter a loud coo which 

 apparently serves as a song. 



Skins of ground doves from Santo Domingo average somewhat 

 smaller than representatives from the Caymans and Cuba; moreover 

 the red at base of the bill is slightly more extensive; however they are 

 precisely like these birds in all other respects and are referable to C. p. 

 insularis} 



41. Melopelia asiatica asiatica (Linne). 



Paloma. 



A female, Sosila. 



Uncommon. A few were observed near Sosua at intervals between 

 February 25 and April 11. No others were seen except a few in the 

 mangrove swamps at the mouth of the Rio San Juan on March 4. 



Apparently the White-winged Dove is not numerous anj-where on 

 the Island. Cory (Birds of Haiti and San Domingo, 1885, p. 131) 

 lists his only specimen and the Verrills state that the bird is " Rare, 

 confined to the pine forests of the mountains of the interior." 



42. Zenaida zenaida zenaida (Bonaparte). 



Tortola. 



Three specimens, both sexes, La Chorrera, Arroyo Savanna. 

 Zenaida Doves are local in their distribution on the north coast. 



1 See Bangs, Bull. M. C. Z., 60, p. 307. 



