FAMILY COLUMBIDAE 23 



Early reports of mourning doves in Panama all were supposed to 

 be of migrants from the north, until Griscom (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 

 vol. 78, 1935, p. 310) published a breeding record for Santiago, Vera- 

 guas, based on his personal observations in 1925 (specimen, June 11). 

 At the time this was interpreted as an occurrence of the typical race, 

 Zenaidura macroura macroura, which is resident in the Greater An- 

 tilles, and is found on the Florida Keys, all localities far to the east. 



In my own field work, beginning in 1948, I saw birds occasionally 

 that I believed were migrants, until on April 1, 1951, near El Espino, 

 Panama, I secured a male with testes about half enlarged that obvi- 

 ously was a resident individual. And in May and June 1953, I was 

 fortunate in finding mourning doves, unquestionably residents, near 

 Sona and Santiago in eastern Veraguas, and in southern Code. Fol- 

 lowing this, at the British Museum (Natural History) in London, I 

 was able to see the older specimens collected by Arce, and with the 

 addition of these data determined that the bird of Panama represented 

 a separate race. While Z. m. macroura of the Greater Antilles also is 

 of small size it differs in darker color. 



The resident doves are not uncommon, but are local in occurrence, 

 and so are not easy to find. It is usual to see single birds or pairs, or, 

 occasionally, where some feeding ground of limited area is attractive, 

 as many as 25 or so may congregate in a flock. In most observations I 

 have found them wary and difficult to approach. Mainly they are birds 

 of the savannas and pastures that spread also into adjacent areas of 

 open tree growth. Old corn, rice, and bean fields after the crop is 

 harvested often are attractive. The nesting period appears to begin 

 in April and to continue through June. Then males may be heard 

 cooing, and are seen flying out in display where they turn in broad 

 circles with stiffly extended wings. Eugene Eisenmann has found them 

 regularly at Playa Coronado. In late March 1955, I found a few 

 along the western base of Cerro Chame, which is near their eastern 

 limit. 



While the wing length in the race is equaled by the smallest indi- 

 viduals in the northern subspecies, bulk of body in the resident birds 

 obviously is less. No information is available as to their nesting. 



ZENAIDURA MACROURA CAROLINENSIS (Linnaeus) 



Columba carolinensis Linnaeus, Syst Nat., ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 286. (South 

 Carolina.) 



Similar in larger size to the other migrant race, Z. m. marginella, 

 from which it differs in darker color. 



