ZEN A ID UR A CAROLINENSIS. 



24.3 



ZENAIDURA CAROLINENSIS. 

 Carolina Dove. 



Zenaulura Carolincnsis Bun., C'on^p. Av. II; 18.54, 84. 



DESCMPTION. 



Sp. Cu. Fonn, slender. Size, meJiuin. Sternum, not very stout. Tongue, long, thin, and narrnw, horny at tip 

 which is pointed. Coeca, wanting. Tail, long and graduated. 



Color. Adult ma h. Top of head, excepting forehead, and remainder of upper parts, excepting primaries, secmda- 

 lics, aud tail, bluish-a.'ih, pure only on the top of head and on greater wing coverts, strongly overwashed elsewhere with 

 olivnceous-brown. Scapulnries. broadly sjiotted with Mack. Wings, brown, slightly edged witli wliitish. Tail, ash-hlue, 

 overwashed with olivaceous on the middle |)air of feathers, and all, excepting these, are tipped with a lighter shade which 

 becomes wliite on the outer margins of tlie first pair; while all, excepting middle pair, have a subtcrminal band of black. 

 Under wing coverts, sides, and flanks, pale l)luish-ash. Remainder of under parts, forehead, sides of head, and neck, jiur- 

 )ili-ili-I:irown, overwashed with blui-^h on the breast, and becoming light yellowish on tlie throat, abdomen, and under tail 

 coverts. Sides of neck, glossed with a violet iridescence wliich has greenish and golden reflections. There isasmall, Idack 

 spot on the si !e of the head which has a liluish ghjss. 



Adult female. Quite similar to the male, but differs in being much browner abi>ve and below, and there is lessiriiles- 

 oence on the neck. 



Ncstlini/.i. Not unlike the adult, but with the feathers edged with lighter. Top of head, spotted with black, and the 

 black maikings on the back are much more extended. The throat is destitute of feathers in the younger stages. Feet, 

 pink, bill, black, iris, brown, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens from Florida are much redder below, darker above, and are somewhat smaller than more northern birds. 

 Readily known from the preceding species by the small size and absence of cinnamon spots on the base of tail, and from 

 other Doves by the pointed tail which has fourteen feathers. Occurs in summer throughout the United States, wintering 

 from Massachusetts .southward but not common at this season north of the Carolinas. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of male specimens from Eastern United States. Length, ir85; stretch, 17' 12; wing, 6'05; tail, 

 5"2o; bill, 60; tarsus, '8.5. Longest specimen, 12'75; greatest extent of wing, 18"35; longest wing, 5 6i); tail, 600; bill, 

 •70; tarsus, 1 00. Shortest specimen, 11 00; .smallest extent of wing, 16'00; shortest wing, 6'75: tail. 4"5(i; bill, 50; tar- 

 Fus, '70. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nrxts, placed in low trees or bushes; they are not bulky structures, being composed of sticks carelessly airanged, and 

 are without lining. 



Ei/yi, one or tnn in number, varying frum cUiiJtical to oval inform, pure creamy-white in color, with 'lie surface very 

 smooth. Dimensions, frum "75x 102 to -'Ms r23. 



HABITS. 



The Turtle Doves have a wide distribution, being found from Massachusetts to Key 

 West, Florida, and they breed in all the localities in which they occur. They are, how- 

 ever, much more abundant in some localities than in others; thus in Ma.ssachusetts, they 

 occur on Cape Cod much more commonly than in the interior, and in Pennsylvania, they 

 are very abundant along the fertile valleys of the Susquehanna and its tributaries. In the 

 South, tliey have a much more general distribution for they are found in large numbers 

 among the plantations, in the hummocks, and in the piney woods, while they are very com- 

 mon on the Keys. They appear to adapt themselves to circumstances (piito readily; thus, 

 when alarmed at Key West, they will instantly alight in (he midst of the thickest jungles, 

 where they are elfectually concealed, while in the piney woods, they invariably fly to the 

 high tops of de.-ul trees when startled, where they can wati-h the approach of the intruder; 



