METAL-SPOTTED DOVES. 



279 



produced as late as May. I have had eggs laid by a 

 crippled hen in my bird-room during the same month. 



I purchased my first pair of this species in December, 

 1896, but could not keep them together as the hen had 

 a drooping wing and flew with difficulty, so that she 

 was at the mercy of my Bleeding-heart Pigeons, which 

 would have killed her had I not removed her from that 

 aviary. In January. 1900, I purchased two more pairs, 

 of which one female died two or three days afterwards, 

 although no cause of death could be discovered. I was 

 tluis able to identify the bird with certiiinty. Later on 

 a cock bird died in good condition. 



Writing to the late Mr. Cre!?s\vell , he informed me 

 that hie exi>erience of these so-called Picui Doves was 

 that they died suddenly and unaccountaiblv ; oddlv 

 enough, my original pair survived until about 1903. I 

 then lo.s-t the hen, and bought two more, which proved 

 to be cocks. These three birds were always at war ; two 

 of them set iiix>n the thiixl and literally"^ skinned it, so 

 that it died ; the others I .sent away (I think to the 

 Zoological Gardens). 



The London Zoological Societv first purchased three 

 examples of C. pictiiin 1883, aiid in the followiiiig year 

 two othei-s were deposited at the Gardens. :\Iii!s Alder- 

 son, who had six examples of the .speties, speaks of it 

 as '• .seldom imiK>rted," but when I purchased my first 

 pair in 1896 there were, I believe, plenty in the market, 

 and they were offered at a cheap rate; if I remember 

 rightly tJie price did not exceed 10s. a pair, and I rather 

 think I got them at about half that price. As Miss 

 Aldereon .«ays, the fcm.ile.s are undonbtedlv delicate, 

 far more so than the males. 



P.^ssEEiN'i': Dove {Chamcepdia passcrina). 



The adult m.ile has the forehead', sides of head arid 

 neck, breast and abdomen vinous; crown and nape 

 bluish-grey with dark edges to the feathers ; this is also 

 the case with the feathers at the sides of the neck; 

 uppw wing-coverts vinous ; tliohts cinnamon, bordered 

 externally and tipiJed with dull bro^vn ; the inner 

 secondaries and outer greater wing-coverts chiefly of 

 this colotir ; the wing blotched with steel-blue shading 

 into violet; remainder of upper sui-face olive-brown; 

 the late!i-al tail-feathers greyish at base, black at ex- 

 tremities, the outermost tipped w-ith white ; feathers of 

 lower throat and front of breast with dusky centres ; 

 middle of aibdomen and bas.» of under tail-coverfs 

 whitish, the longer coverts du.sky ; feet flesh-coloured ; 

 bill orange with dark brown tips; iris purple, eyelids 

 pale ochreous. 



The female is browner, showing little or no vinous 

 tinting; the young are still duller, but the upper parts 

 are baiTed with white at the ends of the feathers. 

 Hab., South .Atlantic and Gulf States, Texas, Xew 

 Mexico, -Arizona, California, the West Indies, Central 

 -Anicrica, and South -America, as far as Peru and Para- 

 guay. The most brilliantly coloured examples are said 

 to occur in the Socorro Islands and Jamaica. 



The above description and list of localities are taken 

 from Count Salvadori's, with the exception of the soft 

 parts, which I took from a female siJecimen which I 

 purchased in 1399, the male of which is still living as 

 I write (more than ten years later). I am not at all 

 sure that the Count is correct in regarding all the local 

 forme as mere spoi-ts of one varialble .species. Not only 

 is there little doubt that the colouring of the soft parts 

 differs locally, but in the two females of which I have 

 preserved skins the plumage differs remarkably, one 

 being reddish-brown above, the forehead, chin, and 

 throat ch.ilky-whitish ; pure white at centre of throat ; 



the breast-feathers small, mostly pearl-grey (a few only 

 blackish), with whit© to greyish-white borders; the 

 <ither olive-brown above, the i'ront of crowai and fore- 

 head gi-e'ver, the chin and throat browner, and with 

 delicate brown edges to the feathers; the breast alto- 

 gether browner, much more coamely feathered, many 

 of the feathers being blackish with brownish-white 

 borders; this bird also is distinctly larger. 



In TfiK Ibis for 1908, pp. 107-115, Mr. P. R. Lowe 

 his \\ritten ?.. veiry instructive paper upon the vaj-ious 

 named forms of Passerine Doves, in which he at>pear.s 

 to regaj-d all as species. 



In C. porlorkeitxix the bill h,as the base crimson for 

 two-thirds of its length, and the tip brownish-black to 

 black ; the iris varies from hazel to light stone-yellow, 

 according to sex and age, and there is a narrow stone- 

 yellow edging to the eyelids. 



In C. o.raiitha, from Cuba, the bill is blackish, black 

 at tip, with only a faint wash of dull crimson at tha 

 extreme base ; tomium narrowly pale crimson. 



In 0. bahamensis the bill is constantly and wholly 

 blaok. 



In C. terrcstris, from Florida, the base of the hill is 

 bright orange, the nasal prominences clear yellow, and 

 the tip of the hill horn-coloured. 



In C. jamaicenfix, the typical Pas.sei-ine Dove, which 

 is strongly vinaceous on the under parts, the basal two- 

 thirds of the bill varies in the male from' 'bright orange 

 to yellow, according to age; in the female it is yellow, 

 and the tip varies from brownish-black to black. 



In C. pallescens, from the South-Western United 

 Statss, the bill is red at the base, and the i>lumage is 

 pale. 



C. socorroensis, from the Socorro Islands, is not 

 ditt'erentiated in Mr. Ix)^re's paper. 



In C. hermudiana the irides are light hazel, with an 

 inner ring of yellowish ; the eyelids edged with a narrow 

 ring of light yellow ; the biU. is black or dark horn- 

 colour, the nasal prominences dull horn-colour, and 

 the edges of the mandibles naiTowly light crimson. 



Li C. insularls, from the Cayman Islands (which 

 nearly approaches C. hahamcnais), the basal half (or 

 more) of the bill is distinctly orange or yellowish. 



In C. jifrpaliicla, from Curagoa, Bonfire. Aruba, 

 Blanquilla, the Los Hermanos group, and Margarita, 

 the basal two-thirds of the biU vary frcmi orange and 

 orange-yellow to yellow (according to age), the tip being 

 nearly black ; the iris is reddish. Females have no 

 orange at the base of the bill. 



In C. f.rir/iia. from Mona Island, Puerto Rico, West 

 Indies, the' bill is wholly black; it is smaller than 

 ('. bahamensis, and much paler above and below, 



I cannot say whether my first female with purple 

 irides and pale ochreous eyelids was the Florida bird, 

 or what it was ; it is not likely to have come from 

 Jamaica, to judge by the almost entire absence of vina- 

 ceous colouring in the plumage and the fact that the 

 true C. pa.'siienna is described by Dr. Robinson (Gosse's 

 ".Jamaica") as having a ring of yellow, then 

 one of black, a narrower black ring, and then 

 a broader vellow ring in the iris. However, as 

 it is better to deal with typical C. passerina, 

 I quote the following notes on the habits from Gosse's 

 •■ Birds of .Jamaica," pp. 311-313 :—" In pairs or small 

 companies of three or four, it frequents pastures, on 

 the short turf of which it runs with considerable speed, 

 and is rather loath to take wing, often allowing a person 

 to approach within a few yards. If one. fly, however, 

 all fly, but seldom go far, alighting either on the ground 

 a'^'ain or on some neighbouring tree of small elevation. 



