BAHAMA GROUND DOVE 443 



rootlets, grass stems and blades, leaf stems with veins attached, small twigs, 

 horse hair, and a few feathers. It was compact and fairly well made, with a 

 decided cup in the center measuring nearly an inch deep, and two inches across 

 from rim to rim. One was an old nest re-vamped, and another was merely a 

 superstructure over an old Abert Towhee's nest. The very late date before men- 

 tioned was probably the second brood, as the nest was an old one re-lined, 

 possibly a last year's nest, but more likely an earlier nest of the same year. 



Eggs. — The Mexican ground dove lays two eggs, rarely only one. 

 They are just like eggs of the eastern bird. The measurements of 

 56 eggs average 21.5 by 16.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 23.5 by 16.5, 23 by 17.5, and 20 by 15 millimeters. 



Young. — Probably two, and perhaps three, broods are raised in a 

 season. Both sexes share in the duties of incubation, which is said 

 to last 14 days. Fortiner (1920) gives the following interesting 

 account of the behavior of the young : 



The nesting birds were not disturbed, and two weeks later the two old doves 

 and the young were discovered feeding on the ground. They soon flew to a 

 tree, where the young bird was fed by regurgitation, but by one of the parents 

 only. No time was available for observation until the following Sunday, when 

 the three doves were again seen feeding, and later all three flew to an umbrella 

 tree, where the young dove was fed by both parent doves. The young dove, after 

 being fed once, hopped onto the old bird's back, then down to the limb on which 

 the old dove was perched ; then, when not being fed, it extended its wing out 

 over the parent dove and gently tapped the back of its parent until it was fed 

 again. It then flew to where the other parent dove was perched, where it went 

 through the same actions. Whether this is typical of the behavior of young 

 ground doves I am unable to say. 



Food. — The food of this dove consists of seeds, waste grain, and 

 various berries. 



Voice. — The call notes are described under courtship. William 

 Lloyd, according to Major Bendire (1892), gives them as pas-cual, 

 pas-cual, pas-cual. George F. Simmons (1925) describes the voice, 

 which is seldom heard, as " intense cooing ; mellow, soft, crooning, 

 floating coos; a single long drawn-out ventriloquistic, misleading 

 woo, uttered at short intervals. Begins its moaning about 

 mid-afternoon." 



COLUMBIGALLINA PASSERINA BAHAMENSIS (Maynard) 

 BAHAMA GROUND DOVE 



HABITS 



The form of the ground dove found on the Bermuda and Bahama 

 Islands was described by Charles J. Maynard (1896) as "similar in 

 form and general coloration to the ground dove, but somewhat 

 smaller and paler; the color on the lower parts and on the wings 

 above being much less ruddy and the top of the head is more ashy, 



