608 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFOENJA 



Heretofore this species has been considered to be of but casual 

 occurrence in California, but recent observations prove it to be 

 regularly present locally in the extreme southeastern portion of the 

 state along the low^er Colorado River. Stephens (1903, p. 77) secured 

 one of these birds on the California side of the river below Ehrenburg 

 in August, 1902, while Howell and Van Rosseni (1915, p. 233) saw 

 more than a dozen near Fort Yuma in January, 1913. More recently, 

 December 6 and 9, 1914, Leo Wiley (MS) saw birds of this species 

 near Palo Verde, Imperial County, and collected one on the first 

 named date (specimen in Mus. Vert. Zool.) ; and in the following 

 summer (1915) he found them breeding there in small numbers. 

 Elsewhere in the state it has occurred as follows : San Diego, Novem- 

 ber 10, 1915, one shot (Grey, 1916, p. 83) ; Escondido, San Diego 

 County, June 29, 1915, one taken (Dixon, 1916, p. 84) ; San Pasqual, 

 San Diego County, one shot about 1900, and Banning, Riverside 

 County, October, 1902, one taken (Willett, 1912a, p. 45) ; San 

 Gabriel, Los Angeles County, several shot a few years previous to 

 1870 (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1874, III, p. 522) ; Monterey 

 "taken" (ibid., p. 390) ; Castroville, Monterey County, one taken in 

 June, 1913 (Silliraan, 1915&, p. 207) ; Pescadero, San Mateo County, 

 one taken from flock of eleven, February 27, 1898 (Littlejohn, 1899, 

 p. 73) ; and San Francisco, May, 1870, one killed (Baird, Brewer and 

 Ridgway, 1874, III, p. 522). These are all irregular occurrences, 

 evidently of birds wandering beyond the bounds of their normal 

 habitat ; so far as is known, such fortuitous dispersal has not led to 

 the establishment of permanent colonies. Judging from the records 

 already made, we may expect this dove to occur from time to time at 

 almost any place in the coastal region, north at least to San Francisco. 



The Mexican Ground Dove is an easy species to identify. Its very 

 small size — but slightly greater than that of an English Sparrow 

 or Least Sandpiper — its general brown-appearing coloration, its 

 square tail and the absence of any contrasted white markings easily 

 separate it from all others of its family in the southwest. The Inca 

 Dove, of Arizona and Mexico, which may at some future date be found 

 in California, is of somewhat greater size [total length 8.00 inches; 

 folded wing 3.70-3.75; tail 4.00-4.40, as compared with tail 2.60 to 

 2.80 in the Ground Dove (Ridgway, 1900, pp. 215, 216)] and has con- 

 spicuous white margins on the slightly rounded tail, and a definite 

 sealed pattern of markings on the body feathers. 



Of the Ground Dove in southern Arizona, Gilman (1911, pp. 54-55) 

 writes : 



He might properly be called the ' ' woo-woo bird, ' ' as his note is a single 

 "woo" long drawn out and uttered at short intervals. The sound is very mis- 

 leading, oven to a greater extent than that of the Mourning Dove. The first time 



