BLUE-HEADED QUAIL-DOVE 457 



Major Bendire (1892) quotes from Dr. Jean Gundlach as follows: 



It is not uncommon in the extensive forest, especially in such in which the 

 ground is rocky, but is scarcely ever found in cultivated fields or open prairie 

 country. It moves slowly, with the neck contracted and tail erected, while 

 searching for food among the dead leaves on the ground. This consists of 

 seeds of various kinds, berries, and occasionally small snails. After feeding, 

 it usually flies into a tree and perches on a leafless horizontal limb, or on one 

 of the numerous parasitic vines, to rest. In tbe early mornings, should its 

 plumage, perchance, have become wet while traveling through the dew-laden 

 shrubbery, it selects a sunny spot to dry itself. From time to time this dove 

 utters her call note, consisting of two hollow-sounding notes, hu-up, the first 

 syllable long drawn out, the second short and uttered very quickly. Besides 

 this note a low muttering is occasionally heard. Their call notes are deceptive, 

 appearing near when distant, and distant when close by. Its flight is noisy 

 when starting, similar to that of the European partridge, from which it receives 

 its misleading name " Perdiz." 



Dr. Thomas Barbour (1923) writes: 



The blue-headed quail dove, on account of its brilliant blue crown, can not 

 be confused with any other species. Formerly it was a common denizen of all 

 the lowland forests of the island, where the soil was not too dry. To-day it 

 is greatly reduced in numbers, both because it is so extensively trapped for 

 food and because the forests are being constantly cut away. There are two 

 ordinary methods of trapping ground doves in general use among the country 

 people in Cuba. One involves the use of a casilla, a cage made of boughs 

 or twigs, tied one upon the other, but at different intervals so that the complete 

 structure is pyramidal and about two feet square and a foot high. This is put 

 out in the open woods and baited with tripa de quhra, the mushy inner pulp of 

 the wild calabash, which is full of seeds. The casilla is tilted, and a " figure- 

 four " drops the contrivance when it is touched by the bird fussing about 

 inside. Sometimes a small dish of water serves for bait. Another method 

 is to erect a net on hoops of creeper, and put bait beneath, where a decoy either 

 alive or stuffed is often put out conspicuously. The hunter, in hiding, imitates 

 the hup-up of the bird by means of a small hollow gourd. 



The bird is called " Perdiz " because of its firm white flesh and the noise it 

 makes when flushed. In common with the other ground doves, it prefers to 

 run away from an annoyance rather than take flight. I have collected a good 

 many by lying prone on the forest floor and simply watching for the birds to 

 walk about. Much of the lowland forest in Cuba is flooded during the rainy 

 season, often for several feet, and this eliminates the very low undergrowtn, 

 so that one may often see long distances with the eyes near the level of the 

 ground. Standing up, it is impossible to see off at all, so thick are the vines 

 and creepers. In 1915 I found Perdizes very common in the low woods, about 

 five miles inland from Jucaro and Palo Alto. I shot a good many, and the 

 guajiros had dozens caged to sell to the planters about Ciego de Avila, who eat 

 them. This forest today is largely gone. About the cayos of the Cienaga 

 where I got the other ground pigeons in numbers, the blue-headed doves were 

 very rare, although I shot a few specimens. In Oriente the bird is still common 

 where it has not been trapped too hard, and here it occurs in the highland 

 forest where also suitable open woods are sometimes to be found. 



Nesting. — Major Bendire (1892) states that the blue-headed quail- 

 dove " nests in April and May ; the nest is a simple affair, consisting 



