METAL-SPOTTED DOVES. 



bill yellow ; feet red ; i rides with an inner red ring and 

 -.111 outer yellow one.' Feiniiie above brown, alino.»t 

 ilnniunon un upper tail-ooverts ; paler on forehead ; spots 

 C'l iipi)er wing-coverts and inner secondaries brownish 

 cinnamon, the larger ones on the merdian and gi-esiter 

 coverts with a^jiale po.sterior edging; central tail-feiuthers 

 browni.-li cinnamon : latev:il feathers black, the inner 

 ones tinged and the outer pair edged with rufous on 

 outer web ; throat wliitisn ; luwer fore neck and breast 

 pale brown iihadiiif; into grev on remaiiKier ot mider 

 surface; under tail-cover!s "sreyishciniianioii, under 

 wing-coverts groy. Hali.. Soutliern ilexico. Central and 

 Siiuthern America, southward to Paraguay and Peru. 



T. K. Salmon savs of this Dove ("Proceedings of 

 the Zoological Society," 1879. p. 544):— "Iris dark. 

 See<ls in stoma<h. The nest is made of small twi^s, 

 and is e.xceedingly .■iinajl and slight; it is placed on the 

 outside bouglis of low bushes.'' 



Stolzmann ob.-erves (Taczanowski's '" Ornitholoo-ie du 

 Perou," Vol. III., p. 2531: "It keeps in the bufihes 

 .at the margins of ihe rivers, in pairs or little coveys. 

 At Palmal one found it more frequently in the rice- 

 iiclds and never in the depths of the forest." 



Mr. Walter Goodfellow, in his notes on the Birds of 

 Ecuador {The Ariniltiiral Magazine. First Series, 

 Vol. VI.. p. 269) says :—" At ' Santo Domingo we 

 obtiuned some of the exceedinglv pretty little pale grey 

 J'eri.<tira rii'i ria. They were always in pairs, running 

 alxnit the patlis near the huts, and the.y had a slight 

 peculiarity in their habits, which I have not noticed in 

 other Doves. When alarmed, instead of taking flight 

 as most Doves do. they remained immovable, skulking 

 as near to the ground as possible. At times, when they 

 must have seen niv approach long before I got to them, 

 and had plent.v of time to clear off, although I had not 

 ll,^ticed them, they startled me by dasihing up almost 

 from under my feet." 



This soecies reachrd the Amsterdam Zcological 

 Gardens in 1857. the London Gardens in 1886. and a. 

 7iair arrived at the Berlin Gardens in 1895; the German 

 chemist Laiidauer and the dentist Langheinz each 

 possessed a pair for more than two yeai"s. but neither 

 succeeded in bre-iding the species, but the latter gentle. 

 man observe<l that this Dove was quiet and peaceable 

 in the biixl-ronni : it this is always the case it should he 

 a far more .satisfactory .hird tC' keep than most of its 

 ■famil.v. 



Geoffroy's Dovf, {Peris/era gcnffroyi). 



The adult male above is bluish grey, nearly white on 

 the forehead ; the wing coverts crossed hy three oibliquc 

 liands edged with blue-black, that on the lesser coverts 

 hlue. the two others on the median and gi'eater coverts 

 pm-plish chestnut : these bands are edged behind with 

 pale grey ; bastard wing and primary coverts black ; 

 flights browni with pale margins; all the tail feathers 

 e.vcepting the central pair with white tips increasing 

 outwardl.v in depth ; throat whiti.ih ; breast grey ; 

 alKlomen. vent, and under tail-coverts pure white; under 

 wing coverts black ; feet blood red ; bill blackish ; iris 

 deep brown with orange outer ring. 



The female and yoiuig are reddish browni, paler on 

 ■the forehead ; the wings browner than in the male, the 

 _two outer hands chestnut edged l>ehind with fawn 

 --colour ; the flights with reddish margins ; all the tail 

 feathers, excepting tiie central pair, greyish at base, 

 lilaok in the middle, and reddish-fawn towards their 

 extremities ; the throat and aljdomen pale reddish 



•Mr. W. Goodfellow iTht Ibis. 1902, p. 328) savs :— " Be.T.k 

 jrreyish-sreen, with yellowish lip: iris red; feet flesh<olom-ed." 



brown, the breast deei^er ; the vent and under va..- 

 coverts fawn coloured. Hab., S.E. Brazil. ^ 



Tolerably abundant in New Freihurg, where it feeds 

 not only upon seeds 'but upon fleshy fruits, according to 

 Burnieister. Stolzmann met witli this Dove in the valley 

 of Huayabamba, at 5,400 feet elevation. He says 

 (Taczanowsld's " Ornithologie du Perou," Vol. lU., 

 p. 251) :— " I have met with this Dove many times on 

 the margins of the temporary lakes, in little companies 

 or in pairs. It is stated that it is much more imnier-ous 

 at the period of the drying up of these watei- reservmrs, 

 where a certain spring plant slioots up. The n^trws 

 have given it the naane of Palamila-azal = little blue 



I have discovered no other notes dealing with the 

 wild life, ihut there is no douht that the nest of this 

 birtl consists of a platform of twigs, and that the eggs 

 are white and two in number. . 



The London Zoological Society purchased a iKur ot 

 this Dove in 1874 ; in 1876 three males and two females 

 were added ; in the same year four young ones were 

 bred from three nests ; in 1877 five young were bred, and 

 in 1878 six more ; others were added and bred m later 

 years. Rues says that it is very rare in the German 

 market. 



Black-winged Dove {Melriopelia melanoptera). 



Above greyish-bro^vn, changing to grey on the edges 

 of the outer upper wing-coverts, and into white on the 

 bend and front edge of the wincr ; bastird-wmg, pnmary- 

 coverts, and flights black, inner secondaries greyish- 

 brown;' central tail feathers greyish-black; lateral 

 feathers black, becoming grey towards the base ; sides 

 of neck and under-parts pale vinous ; flanks grey ; under 

 toil-coverts dark grey, the longest ones nearly black; 

 inner under wing-coverts black, outer ones white ; bill 

 black; feet brown, with the toes nearly black; ins 

 silvery whitish; a naked primrose-coloured loral spot: 

 according to Stolzmann the iris is dark brown, and 

 a"co'-din| to Taczanoweki the naked orbital skin is milky 

 orange behind and below, with flesh-coloured papillae, 

 in front and above with -black papillse. Female with- 

 out the vinous tinge on the under-parts, which are 

 <Treyish-brow^l, becoming nearly white on the chin and 

 middle of abdomen. Hab., "Western South America, 

 from Ecuador to Chili, and also on the Argentine side 

 of the Cordilleras." (Salvadori.) , . ,, 



According to Burmeister this Dove " is found in the 

 high valley^ of the Cordilleras on the Ai-gentme side 

 (rem 6,000 ft. to 12,C00 ft. in altitude, and, along with 

 rhri/giht-i fruticeti, is one of the birds seen at the 

 greatest altitudes by the traveller over the pa.-^ses of the 

 Andes " (Cf. Scla"ter and Hudson, " Argentine Orm- 

 •holo<'y." Vol. II., p. 142.) 



Mr? Ambrose A. Lane says (The Ibis, 1897, p. i98) : — 

 " This Dove occurs at Huasco, Siicaya, and other locali- 

 ties in Tarapaca. I only observed it between 8,000 ft. 

 and 12,000 ft. On first' going to Huasco, in January, 

 I noticed one or two flocks of upwards of a dozen on the 

 sierras, hut subsequently I met with only odd pairs, and 

 thev were scarce." 



Mr Walter Gcodfellow says {The Ibis, 1902, p. 227) : 

 —"Numerous neiir CV)topaxi, at about 13,500 ft., among 

 the rocks and lava. A.s nothing but a few tufts of 

 coarse grass grew there, it was diflicult to imagine 

 what thev could find to eat. The stomachs of two that 

 n-e shot were quite empty. In life they have a primrose 

 cpot in front of the eye." , , - i. 



The Zoological Society of London purchased eight, 

 ..specimens of this strikingly coloured Dove in 1870, but 

 the species does not appear to have bred there. As 



