392 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tinned to nourish them nntil full-grown, and afterwards raised a second brood 

 from the same nest. They were fed on rice and other small grain. 



The nest of this species is described as compact, and as large for the size 

 of the bird. It is composed of dry twigs externally, and within is made of 

 dry grasses disposed in a circular form. This is usually built in hedges or 

 low bushes, and among the branches of orange-trees. The eggs are two, pure 

 white, and with one end usually much more obtuse than the other. They 

 are two in number, but, as Mr. Audubon states, occasionally the nest con- 

 tains three. Two broods are raised in a season. 



In the vicinity of Charleston these birds were observed to remain all the 

 year, though the greater proportion retired south or to the sea-islands. 



In the Florida Keys Mr. Audubon met with them among the islands re- 

 sorted to by the Zenaida Doves, and also on Sandy Island, near Cape Sable. 

 In the latter place they were so gentle that he approached to within two 

 yards of them. Their nest was on the top of a cactus, not more than two 

 feet from the ground. 



Their food, in a wild state, consists of grass-seeds and various small ber- 

 ries, with which they swallow a large proportion of gravel to assist digestion. 

 They are extremely fond of dusting themselves in the sand, lying down in 

 it in the manner of various gallinaceous birds. 



The eggs of this species are of a uniform bright white color, are slightly 

 more pointed at one end than at the other, and measure .85 of an inch in 

 length by .63 in breadth. 



This species was found in abundance at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus. 

 They were nesting from April 15 until August 29, and evidently had two or 

 more broods in a season. Their nests were usually placed in low cactuses, 

 near the ground, or in small shrubs. Their nests, eggs, and general habits, so 

 far as we can gather them from the meagre notes of Mr. Xantus, are in no 

 wise different from those of the more eastern birds. 



Genus OREOFELEIA, Reichenbach. 



Oreopeleia, Reichenbach, Handbuch der speciellen Ornithol. I, i, 1851, page xxiv. (Type,, 

 Colmnba martinica, L.) 



Gen. Char. Bill lengthened, slender ; culmen half the rest of the head from the 

 frontal feathers. Feet large, stout ; tarsi longer than the middle toe and claw, covered 

 anteriorly by transverse scutellae. Inner lateral claw longer than outer ; reaching beyond 

 the base of the middle one, the outer falling short of it. Hind toe and claw more than 

 half the middle. Quills and tail-feathers very broad ; the wings rounded ; second and 

 third quills longest, the first intermediate between the fourth and fifth. Tail suborbicular, 

 the shafts convex outwardly ; the feathers rounded, and a little graduated. 



Of this genus, which is peculiar to America, two well-marked species 

 may be distinguished. 



