Ground-Dove of Porto Rico. 1 1 1 



CHAMiEPELIA JAMAICENSIS. 



Columbiyallina jamaicensis Maynard^ App. Birds West 

 Indies, 1899, p. 34. 



Coluniba passerina Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 285 (1766), ex 

 Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolinas, vol. i. p. 26, 



I have specimens of this form in my collection from 

 Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, St Thomas, St. Kitts, 

 Dominica, and Grenada. 



The basal two-thirds of the bill of the adult male varies 

 from bright orange to yellow according to age, that of the 

 female is yellow. The tip of the bill varies from brownish 

 black to black; the tarsi and feet are pale flesh-coloured. 



I cannot agree to the correctness of Mr. Maynard's 

 description of the Jamaican bird, which he compares with 

 C. bahamensis, and states to be " lighter in shade/^ I 

 have examined nine males and six females from Jamaica, 

 and, on the contrary, find that in both sexes they are much 

 darker above, and that the males are of a darker, richer, and 

 more vinaceous tone below. 



Without a much larger series of specimens from the 

 other Lesser Antillean Islands and without careful notes 

 taken of the soft parts in the fresh state it is impossible to 

 be certain whether they belong to a different form from the 

 Jamaica bird. The specimens which I have collected myself, 

 as well as those in the National Collection, are apparently 

 identical with the Jamaican form, and I can see no reason 

 for separating them ; this especially applies to the specimens 

 from the Cayman Islands. 



From a geographical point of view the St. Thomas 

 Ground-Dove ought to be identical with that of Porto Rico, 

 for the two islands rest on the same isolated submarine 

 plateau, are connected and surrounded by the same shallow 

 soundings, and so are probably, together with other and 

 smaller neighbours, the isolated remnants of one large 

 island. 



ChAM/EPELIA pallescens. 



Chamcepelia passerma var. pallescens Baird, Proc. PhiL 

 Acad. 1859, p. 305. 



