EASTEEN GROUND DOVE 435 



Besides the danger from gunner, the Cooper Hawk is a menace, feeding often 

 on the fat pigeon. I have seen a Marsh Hawk after a White-wing with a broken 

 wing, but do not think any but wounded birds are ever attacked by this species. 



Along in August the big flocks begin to grow less, the birds probably scat- 

 tering out and seeking feeding grounds more distant from the breeding grounds. 

 Toward the first of September they begin to thin out in earnest and by the 15th 

 of the month very few are seen. Individuals may linger a little longer, as in 

 1909 I saw one as late as October 12, and in 1910 the last seen was on September 

 25. A few lingered on a sorghum field up till September 10 of this year, but 

 were not seen any later. 



COLUMBIGALLINA PASSERINA PASSERINA (Linnaeus) 



EASTERN GROUND DOVE 



HABITS 



The gentle little ground dove is one of the most familiar and con- 

 fiding dooryard birds in Florida, where it may be seen walking 

 briskly about on its short legs, with a graceful nodding motion of its 

 head, about the houses, gardens, and more quiet streets in nearly 

 every village. It is very tame and will allow a close approach, but, if 

 too hard pressed, it will flit away to the nearest cover with a con- 

 spicuous flash of reddish brown in its wings. Besides being very 

 domestic in its habits and attached to the vicinity of human dwellings, 

 it is fond of sandy, cultivated lands, old weedy fields, cottonfields, 

 pea patches, orange groves, and the borders of woods. 



Its range extends northward into Georgia and South Carolina, 

 mainly in the coastal counties. Referring to Chatham County, Ga., 

 W. J. Erichsen (1920) says: 



A characteristic bird of the Lower Austral zone, this species, while formerly 

 abundant, is now quite uncommon. Its decrease during the past five years 

 has been rapid and the few that now breed are restricted to three or four widely 

 separated localities. 



During the period when it was abundant and generally dispersed in the 

 county, I had many opportunities to observe its habits, and while it was to be 

 met with in equal abundance in country of greatly diverse character, its pre- 

 ferred haunts were sparsely timbered woodland containing low and dense 

 undergrowth. 



This species is non-migratory, passing its entire life in or very near the locality 

 at which it was hatched. So attached to certain localities does it become that 

 even if the undergrowth is cleared and the land cultivated the bird remains, 

 nesting on the ground among the vegetables. 



Courtship. — The courtship of the ground dove is a very simple 

 affair, much like that of the domestic pigeon. The male struts be- 

 fore the female, puffing out his feathers, bowing his head, and mak- 

 ing a soft cooing sound. After they are mated the pair may often 



