66 8 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — COL UMBjE — PERISTEUM. 



livid Mue. Length 12.00-12.50; extent 19. 00-19.. 50 ; wing 6.00-0.;30 ; tail 4.25-4.50; bill 

 O.GO-0.70 ; tarsus 1.25-1.35 ; middle toe and claw rather less. 9 similar. (In printing the 

 Chrcl< List, the No. of this species accidentally transposed with No. 543, Ectopistes.) 

 196. ZENAIDU'RA. (Zenairfa, nom. propr., and oupa, o?/ra, tail.) Pin -tail Doves. Tail long, 

 about equalling wings, cuneate, of 14 narrow, tapering, obtuse-ended feathers (unique among 

 N. Am. Columbidce). Wings pointed ; 2d primary rather longest, 1st and the 3d about equal 

 and scarcely shorter. Tarsus naked, scutellate in front, in length intermediate between middle 

 and lateral toes ; the latter of unequal lengths, the outer shortest. Bill much shorter than 

 head, slender and weak, the feathers running out far between the rami. A bare circum-orbital 

 space. Velvety black spots on head and wings. Lining of wings not rufous. Sexes unlike. 

 There is a curious mimicry of Ectopistes in form and even in color ; but the technical characters 

 are widely different. 

 S44. Z. carolinen'sis. (Of Carolina. Fig. 392.) Carolina Dove. Mourning Dove. Wild Dove. 

 Adult ^ : Upper parts, including middle tail-feathers, grayish-blue shaded with brownish -olive, 

 the head and neck ochrey-brown overlaid with glaucous-blue, the sides of the neck glittering 



with golden and ruby iridescence ; a violet- 

 black spot under the ear-coverts. Under parts 

 glaucous- purplish, changing gradually to ochra- 

 ceous on the belly and crissum, to bluish on 

 the sides and under the wings, to whitish on 

 the chin; the purplish tint spreading up on the 

 sides and front of the head to blend with the 

 glaucous-blue. Black spots on some of the 

 scapulars and wing-coverts, most of which are 

 colored to correspond with the back, the larger 

 ■ CaroUna Dove, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. ones being rather bluish-plumbeous. Lateral 

 tail-feathers plumbeous-bluish, crossed with a 

 black bar, the outer four on each side broadly ended with white. Bill black ; angle of mouth 

 carmine; iris brown; bare skin around eye livid bluish ; feet lake- red, drying dull yellowish. 

 Length about 12.50: extent about 18.00; wing 5.75 ; tail the same, the feathers graduated for 

 half its length ; culmen 0.60 ; tarsus 0.80 ; middle toe and claw 1.00. 9 t adult : A little 

 smaller, not purplish below, the rich color replaced by grayish-brown, like the back but paler ; 

 head and neck with little of the glaucous blue shade, and less iridescent. Young : Like the 9 ! 

 but at an early age the velvety-black spots and iridescence are wanting, and the general tone 

 is quite gray ; many feathers with whitish edging, as in the wild pigeon, with which not only 

 the colors but the sexual and juvenile differences are thus closely correspondent. Temperate 

 N. A., anywhere, the most widely and equably diffused of its tribe, abundant in most localities, 

 in some swarming; "millions" in Arizona, for example. Irregularly migratory, imperfectly 

 gregarious ; great numbers may be together, but scarcely in compact flocks. Terrestrial rather 

 than arboreal, almost always feeding on the ground; where very numerous, they become famil- 

 iar, like blackbirds in the West. Nest indifferently on the ground or in bushes; eggs 2, -white, 

 equal-ended, averaging 1.12 X 0.82 ; 2 or even 3 broods in the South. During the mating 

 season, where these birds are numerous, their cooing resounds on every hand, but at other 

 times they are silent. 

 196. ZENAI'DA. (A proper name, that of Zenai'de, cousin and wife of Prince C L. Bonaparte.) 

 Love Doves. Tail rounded, shorter than wings, of 12 feathers. Wings long, pointed by 

 2d and 3d quills; 1st little shorter. BiU short, slender, black. Feet as in other Zenaidime ; 

 tarsus intermediate iu length between the middle and lateral toes ; these of unequal length, 

 inner a little the longer. Circumorbital space little bare. Metallic iridescence on neck j blue- 

 black ear-spot, and others on Avings. Sexes similar. (West Indian.) 



