COLUMBIDm — ZEN AIDING: GROUND DOVES. 569 



545. Z. ama'bilis. (Lat. «»irt5i'fo, lovely.) Zenaida Dove. Olive-gray with a reddish tinge; 

 crowu aud under parts viuaceous-red ; sides and axillars bluish ; a velvety-black auricular 

 spot, aud others on the wing-coverts and tertiaries; secondaries tipped with white; neck with 

 metallic lustre ; middle tail-feathers like the back, others bluisli with whiter tips, a black band 

 intervening; bill black with crimson coniers of the mouth ; iris brown ; feet red; claws black. 

 Length about 10.00 ; wing 6.00 ; tail 4.00. West Indies and Fh)rida Keys. 



197. MELOPELI'A. (Gr. /i«Xoy, j«e/os, melody ; Tre'Xeia, peseta, a dove.) White- wiNG DovES. 

 Tail rounded, shorter than wing, of 12 broad, rounded feathers. Wings pointed; 1st, 2d, and 3d 

 primaries nearly equal and longest. Bill slender and lengthened, equaUiiig tarsus, black. A 

 large bare circumorbital space. A blue-black spot below auriculars, but none on wings ; neck 

 with metallic lustre. A great white space on wing. Feet as in other Zenaidince. Sexes alike. 



646. M. leuco'ptera. (Gr. XevKor, leiicos, white; Trrepov, pteron, wing.) White-wing Dove. 

 Wing wilii a broad white bar oblique from tlie carpal joint to the euds of the longest coverts, 

 continued by white edging at and near ends of outer webs of the secondaries : very conspicuous, 

 recognizable at gun-shot range. Lower back and rump, some of the middle coverts, lining of 

 wings, and entire under parts from the breast, line light bluish-ash. Primaries blackish with 

 narrow white edging. Tail, excepting two middle feathers, slaty-blue, becoming gradually 

 slaty-black, then broadly and squarely tipped with ashy-white. General color of back, lesser 

 wing-coverts, inner quills, aud middle tail-feathers, olive-brown with some lustre ; the tail- 

 feathers browner; the top of head and back of neck purplish-vinous with a slight glaucous 

 shade ; sides of neck iridescent with golden-green ; a violet or steel-blue spot below auriculars. 

 BiU black, very slender. Length 11.25-12.25; extent 19.00-20.00; wing 6.00-6.50; tail 

 4.00-4.50 ; bill 0.87 ; tarsus 0.87 ; middle toe and claw 1.25. 9 scarcely distinguishable. 

 In the youngest, the white wing-bar appears, though there is little or no purplish, or iri- 

 deseeiice, or blue-black below ears. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and S. Gala, and southward, 

 abundant iu suitable localities. In the breeding season, Apr.-May, the sonorous cooing is 

 incessant. Nest in bushes aud low trees, slight and frail, of sticks and weeds ; eggs 2, white 

 or creamy, averaging 1.18X0.88. 



1 98. CHAM-rEPELI'A. (Gr. xay.aL, chamai, on the ground ; Tre'Acta, peleia, a dove.) Dwarf Doves. 

 Very small. Wings short and broad, with elongated inner secondaries, nearly overreaching 

 primaries in the folded wing. Tail still shorter than mug, nearly even, of 12 broad feathers. 

 Bill slender, about half as long as head, mostly yellow. Feet largely zenaidine; tarsus as 

 long as middle toe without claw. No iridescence nor blue-black spot on head ; such spots on 

 wiugs. Sexes unlike, but Arcades ambo. 



547. C. passeri'na. (Lat. passerina, sparrow-like ; from the pygmy stature.) Ground Dove. 

 Grayish-olive, glossed with blue on the hind head and neck, most feathers of the fore-parts 

 with darker edges, those of the breast with dusky centres. Forehead, sides of head and neck, 

 lesser wing-coverts and under parts purplish-red of variable intensity, paler or grayish on the 



, belly and crissum ; under surface of wings orange-brown or chestnut, this color suffusing the 

 quills to a great extent ; upper surface of wings sprinkled with lustrous steel-blue spots. Middle 

 tail-feathers like the back, others plumbeous, blackening toward ends, with paler tips. Feet 

 yelhjw; bill yellow with dark tip. Diminutive: length 6.50-7.00; extent 10.00-11.00; wing 

 3.50, with inner secondaries nearly as long as the primaries; tail 2.75, rounded; bill 0.45; 

 tarsus 0.67; middle toe and claw 0.75. 9 i^ud young differ as those of the wild pigeon and 

 Carolina dove do, the purplish tints being replaced by gray or " ashes of roses," the very young 

 bird having whitish skirting of the feathers. Southern U. S., Atlantic to Pacific, but chiefly 

 coastwise; N. to the Carolinas, and accidentally to Washington, D. C. ; common. Nest on 

 the ground or in bushes indifferently; eggs 2, white, 0.87X0.63. 



548. C. p. palles'cens? (Lat. ^aZZescens, bleaching.) Scarcely different ; described as paler. Cape 

 St. Lucas. 



