FAMILY COLUMBIDAE 37 



before we secured 1 male. It was possible to follow them mainly 

 through their notes, as they were calling coo-ah' , coo-ah', uttered with 

 an accented rising inflection, but otherwise similar to the note of the 

 blue ground-dove. As they fly, the white in the tail is prominent. 

 Others were flushed or heard subsequently in other localities in this 

 region. As an additional record, Dr. F. A. Hartman has presented me 

 with a male taken on Cerro Pando, beyond El Volcan, on March 5, 

 1956. 



Several subspecies have been described from Central America, each 

 from a small number of specimens. As more material has become 

 available the supposed differences appear due to individual variation. 

 (For a summary see van Rossem, Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 vol. 8, 1934, pp. 5-8.) From present information it appears that the 

 typical form ranges from Costa Rica and Panama through the moun- 

 tains of Colombia and Venezuela. The specific name mondetoura was 

 given by Prince Bonaparte to honor Madame Pauline Mondetour, 

 widow of the ornithologist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. 



The egg listed by Nehrkorn (Kat. Eiersamml., 1899, p. 185) from 

 "Span. Honduras. Rothlichweiss. 31.5x23 mm.," from the color and 

 size may have been that of a quail-dove. It appears to be too large for 

 the present species. 



Dr. Eugene Eisenmann has brought to my attention a male in the 

 American Museum of Natural History, caught by George V. N. 

 Powell on November 9, 1966, in a mist net on Cerro Campana, an 

 unexpected record. 



LEPTOTILA VERREAUXI VERREAUXI (Bonaparte): 

 White-fronted Dove; Paloma Rabiblanca 



Figure 6 



Leptoptila verreauxi Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. 40, 1855, 

 p. 99. (Colombia.) 



A dove of medium size, with gray-brown back, pinkish brown 

 crown, light under surface, and tail with broad white tips which show 

 prominently in flight ; often seen on open trails and roadsides in early 

 morning. 



Description. — Length 250 to 280 mm. Adult male, forehead pale 

 vinaceous, changing to fawn color on superciliary area and auricular 

 region, and to pinkish brown on the crown ; occiput hair brown ; hind- 

 neck paler, with a metallic gloss of purple to bronze-green; rest of 

 upper parts grayish brown ; alula, primary coverts, and primaries 

 dusky ; primaries and secondaries with narrow paler edgings ; middle 



