37S BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of various palms, wild figs, the moral (Cordia), and jagua (Genipa 

 americana), with various wild legumes, are eaten extensively." He 

 says elsewhere (1916) : 



All of the smaller wild fruits in season appear to furnish food, and these 

 are so abundant that cultivated fields are not molested. The fruits eaten, 

 though sometimes of comparatively large size and with hard stony pits, are 

 swallowed entire. The strong muscular gizzard of the bird has a tremendous 

 triturating power, however, and the fruits are easily crushed and the meaty 

 centers opened to the processes of digestion. 



Behavior. — Referring to the habits of the scaled pigeon in Porto 

 Rico, Doctor Wetmore writes : 



The dense forests covering the slopes of El Yunque de Luquillo, in the north- 

 eastern part of Porto Rico, harbored great numbers of these birds, which 

 ranged commonly up to 2.500 feet above the sea. In late afternoon and eve- 

 ning, near the Hacienda Catalina, it was a common sight to see them circling 

 about high in the air. In spite of their large size, they were difficult to see 

 in tlie trees, even in the thin foliage of the cacao rosetta (Sloanea berteriana) . 

 Thus it often happened that bird after bird flew out from amid the limbs, with 

 loudly clapping wings, yet failed to offer a shot, while I peered vainly upward 

 in search for their hidden companions. When one of the big males chanced 

 to drop in near another, a great flapping of wings ensued until one was forced 

 to take flight. The ordinary call note was a loud, strongly accented tcho- 

 hoo-hoo, while a burring guttural hoo-o-o-o, given with a throaty rattle, was 

 almost startling when heard from directly overhead. Many birds descended 

 to feed amid the tall trees fringing small streams at the foot of the mountain, 

 and some were encountered in the dense, swampy forests near Punta Picua, 

 beyond Mameyes. Males rest and call at times in the tops of tall, dead trees. 



Fall. — Doctor Wetmore says that 



The paloma tutca is said to occur in large flocks during fall, and to gather in 

 numbers where wild fruits are ripening, at which time many are killed. It 

 is common belief that these flocks are entirely migratory, but there can be no 

 doubt that they come mainly from the forests on El Yunque and elsewhere 

 in the interior. 



Game. — The same writer states : 



The species is the only game bird of importance in the inland region of 

 Potto Rico and affords excellent sport, as it is wary, strong on the wing, and 

 is found only in the wildest, roughest country. It should be protected from 

 February 1 to October 15 each year, if not longer, to permit it to breed, as 

 otherwise it cannot maintain its status. 



Austin H. Clark (1905), referring to the southern Lesser Antilles, 

 writes : 



This is the chief game bird of these islands, and is much hunted. The flight 

 is rapid and powerful, and the birds regularly cross over from one island to 

 another to feed, returning at night to roost on the smaller keys. Formerly 

 numbers could be shot any evening about four o'clock from Clifton House, Union 

 Island, us they flew from that island over to Prune to spend the night. They 

 could be obtained at Hermitage House, Carriacou, in the same manner, as they 

 flew past, going to one or other of the small keys near by. 



