COLUMBID.E — THE PIGEONS. 375 



Zenaideae. Size moderate. Wings lengthened, acute, the primaries much 

 longer than the secondaries. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly. A blackish spot 

 beneath the auriculars ; tail-feathers tipped with white, and with a blackish 

 subterminal bar. Sides of the neck with a metallic gloss. 



Bill lengthened, much depressed. A white patch on the wing ; no 

 black spots on the scapulars ; plumage ashy, lighter beneath. Tail of 



twelve feathers, rounded Melopelia. 



Bill smaller, more compressed. No white patch on the wing; 

 scapulars with black spots. Above olivaceous, beneath vinaceous. 



Tail of twelve feathers rounded Zenaida. 



Tail of fourteen feathers, graduated or cuneate . . . Zenaidura. 

 Chamaepelieae. Size very small. Wings rounded, the primaries scarcely 

 longer than the tertials. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly. No blackish spot 

 beneath the auriculars ; no metallic gloss on sides of the neck. 



Tail of twelve feathers, lengthened (much longer than wings), doubly 

 rounded, the lateral feathers much shorter; the three outer pairs with 



white terminally Scardafella. 



Tail of twelve feathers, short (much less than wings), simply rounded, 

 the lateral feathers only slightly shorter ; outer feathers without white 

 terminally, or with only a slight edging. Wing-coverts with oblique 

 black spots, and body without transverse blackish bars. 



Outside of the tarsus with a narrow feathered strip ; lining of the 



wing blackish Talpacota. 



Outside of the tarsus without a feathered strip; lining of the 



wing wholly rufous Chamcepelia. 



Starncenadeae. Size moderate (generally a little larger than Zenaida) ; 

 form robust, or quail-like. Legs very stout ; tarsi decidedly longer than 

 the middle toe, variously scaled anteriorly. Wings short, very broad, and 

 much rounded, but tlie primaries decidedly longer than the secondaries. 



Legs very stout ; tarsi covered with hexagonal scales ; crown blue ; a 

 black gular patch, bordered below by white .... Starnoenas. 



Legs moderate ; tarsi covered anteriorly with transverse scutellae. 

 Crown never blue, and throat without black or white markings . Geotrygon. 



The genera characterized above are all more or less nearly related to others 

 belonging to South America, and many of these apparently form connecting 

 links between the several North American ones. Thus, " Columhina" picui, 

 Gray (of Chili), and C. strcpitans (of Paraguay), are almost exactly intermedi- 

 ate between Scaixlafclla and Chamcepelia, both in form and colors. " Lep- 

 toptila " is in reality scarcely more than a very large Chamcepelia with an ap- 

 proach to Zenaida in more lengthened primaries, and to Geotrygon in the 

 lengthened tarsus. 



" Peristera " einerea is again a slightly enlarged reproduction of Chamce ■ 

 pelia, with the same pattern of coloration, but without rufous on the inside 

 of the wing. 



Starnoenas an(l Geotrygon are nearly connected by the G. chiriquensis, which 

 agrees with the genus to which it is referred in the scutellate tarsi, and with 

 StarnxBnas in the peculiar structure of the feathers of the neck, wdiich have, 

 as in that " genus," a stiff, compact structure, and rather raylike arrangement. 



