FAMILY COLUMBIDAE 1 3 



pointed ovals, smooth-shelled, and somewhat glossy." One set mea- 

 sured 39x29.9, and 39.6x29.8 mm., the other 37.4x29.1 and 40 X 

 29.8 mm. A single egg in the British Museum, collected near Reme- 

 dios, Antioquia, by T. K. Salmon, is white, with the surface faintly 

 granular. It is long elliptical in form, and measures 37.5x26.5 mm. 

 Another from the Demerara River, about 130 miles south of George- 

 town, Guyana, collected November 2, 1935 by T. A. W. Davies, is 

 white, glossy, and smooth, and measures 35.3x27.3 mm. The nest 

 from which the latter egg was taken was described as a rough plat- 

 form of twigs with a few dead leaves for lining, about 200 mm. in 

 diameter. It was placed well hidden by leaves in a tall shrub about 

 4% meters from the ground. Russell (A.O.U. Orn. Monogr., no. 1, 

 1964, p. 71) recorded 2 nests found by Peck in British Honduras, 

 each with 1 egg. In Panama I have taken adults in breeding condition 

 from January to March, and have found young on the wing (at Sona, 

 Veraguas) in late May. 



COLUMBA NIGRIROSTRIS Sclater: Short-billed Pigeon; 

 Tres-pesos-son 



Figure 3 



Columba nigrirostris P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, vol. 27, 1859 (Feb- 

 ruary 1860), p. 390. (Oaxaca, Mexico.) 



Oenoenas chiriquensis Ridgway, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 28, June 29, 

 1915, p. 139. (Chiriqui, Panama.) 



Similar to the ruddy pigeon, Columba subvinacea, but with back, 

 rump, and tail fuscous-brown. 



Description. — Length 265-285 mm. Adult (sexes alike), crown 

 purplish drab, paler and brighter on the forehead, changing to a 

 brighter brown on hindneck ; back, wings, rump, and tail dull drab to 

 fuscous-brown ; upper back glossed slightly with purplish brown ; 

 under surface, including base of underside of tail, light brownish drab 

 to true vinaceous-drab, paler on the throat, and with the front and 

 sides of the neck washed with purplish brown; under wing coverts 

 pinkish brown; inner webs of primaries and secondaries pinkish 

 brown, becoming dull brownish gray at tips. 



Juvenile, head, neck, and under parts reddish brown, darker on the 

 head, brighter on the abdomen ; wing coverts tipped with rusty brown. 



An adult male, gonads enlarged, collected near the Peluca Hydro- 

 graphic Station, Panama, February 19, 1961, had the iris pale dull red ; 

 rim of eyelids, and bare skin above, below, and in front of eye dull 

 dark red; bill black; cere reddish black (the red tint barely percepti- 



