440 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The species is generally nonmigratory, although there is some 

 evidence of a movement in the Southwestern United States that 

 apparently involves only a part of the ground-dove population. 



Casual records. — There are several records of occurrence north of 

 the normal range. Among these are : California, one found dead at 

 Salinas in June, 1913, and one obtained at San Francisco in May, 

 1870; Arkansas, a pair seen regularly for three years (last 1927), at 

 Rogers, according to a report from D. E. Merrill to the Biological 

 Survey ; Iowa, one reported as " seen " at Des Moines, on June 10, 

 1922, by Clifford H. Pangburn; northern Alabama, one shot at 

 Leighton, on May 4, 1889; northern Georgia, one at Rising Fawn, 

 May 9, 1885 ; western North Carolina, one seen in Buncombe County, 

 May 29, 1891; Virginia, one at Lynchburg on November 4, 1900; 

 Maryland, one near the mouth of Broad Creek, October 14, 1888; 

 District of Columbia, one at Washington, September 1, 1844; Penn- 

 sylvania, one shot in Lancaster County in 1844; New Jersey, one 

 taken near Camden in the autumn of 1858 ; and New York, one taken 

 from a flock of seven, near New York City, in October, 1862. 



Egg dates. — Florida: 73 records, February 27 to October 22; 37 

 records, April 16 to June 2. South Carolina and Georgia: 20 

 records, February 22 to October 19 ; 10 records, May 17 to June 10. 

 Texas : 58 records, March 30 to October 1 ; 29 records, May 3 to June 

 28. Arizona : 25 records, May 17 to October 8 ; 13 records, June 2 to 

 August 11. Mexico: 34 records, March 7 to October 18; 17 records, 

 May 3 to August 5. 



COLUMBIGALLINA PASSERINA PALLESCENS (Baird) 

 MEXICAN GROUND DOVE 



HABITS 



A slightly paler form of the ground clove is found along our 

 southwestern borders and in Mexico. We found it common or 

 abundant in suitable places in southern Texas and in southern Ari- 

 zona, where its haunts and habits seemed to be like those of the 

 eastern bird. In Arizona it was breeding commonly in the valley of 

 the San Pedro River and I recorded it as abundant in the mesquite 

 forest south of Tucson. It is a common dooryard bird in the small, 

 quiet villages, very tame and confiding, as it runs about in the 

 gardens or along the streets and is equally familiar about the ranches, 

 barnyards, and cultivated fields. It is also common in the well- 

 watered woodlands in the river bottoms and in the willows along the 

 irrigation ditches. 



G rifling Bancroft (1930) says of its haunts in Lower California: 



The presence of water seems to be the determining factor in the distribution 



of this little dove. It is common wherever there are irrigation ditches or pools 



