CHAMJEPEUA. 



245 



HABITS. 



Although the Zenaida Dove is a well-known bird on the Bahamas and in the West 

 Indies, no one appears to have observed it among the Keys, excepting Audubon who found 

 it quite common there. When on the Keys, I questioned the inhabitants concornini;- this 

 Dove but they knew nothing about it, yet it may possibly occur as a rare visitor; hut I did 

 not see it nor did my assistants meet with it, therefore I can add nothing new relative to 

 it. Audubon says that it spends the greater portion of its time on the ground and that its 

 haliits are not dissimilar to those of the Ground Dove. 



GENUS III. CHAJLEPELIA. THE LITTLE DOVES. 



Gen. Ch. fiize, very small. Bill, slender. Tail, short and rounded, not exceeding the wings in lenylh. Sternum, not 

 wide. Feet, small. 



Membei-s of thif genus are very small, not very dull in color, with no conspicuous white markings anywhere. There 

 is but one species within our limits. 



CHAM.aEPELIA PASSERINA. 



Ground Dove. 



Ckameepelia passerina Swain, Zool. Jour., IH; 1827, 358. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Ch. Form, rather slender. Size, small. Sternum, not stout. Tongue, short, moderately thick and fleshy, fur- 

 rowed above, but horny at tip which is provided with coarse cilia. Sexes, not similar. 



Color. Adult male. Top of head and occiput, bluish-a<;h, with the edges of the feathers darker. Remainder of up- 

 per portions, excepting secondaries and primaries, brownish-ash, while theouter wing c:)Terts are edged with purplish-red. 

 There are rounded spots of hlack, glossed with violet, on the the latter named, and oblique patches on thescapularies of the 

 same color. The tail feathers are slightly tipped with white, and the entire terminal portion, excepting eehtriil pair, ispur- 

 plish-blaok, whicli extends to tha base heneath. Wings, dark-brown, with the ba^e beneath, under wing coverts, and in- 

 ner webs, excepting tips, (innamon-red. Forehead, sides of head and neck, and under portions, purplish-rod, lighter on 

 the throat, and baccmiiiig br(]Wner on the abdomen and. under tail coverts, where the feiithei-s are tipped with white. Part- 

 ly concealed -pots on the breast are dark-brown and the feathers of this part are very narrowly edged with dark purplish- 

 red. 



Adult ftmale. Differs from the male in biding paler above and bjlow, while the blue of the head is overwaslied with 

 brownish. 



Nestlings. Are not unlike the adult but are duller and decidedly rufous beneath, especially on the abdomen. Iris, red, 

 yellow, or red and yellow mixed, bill, yellow, black at tip, and feet, yellow, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens are very uniform in color, and although skins from Key West are a little smaller in size, they do not ap- 

 pear darker than those from further north. Known by the small size, rounded tail, and colors as described. Distributed, 

 as a c in-tant ra-id^nt, throughout the Carulinas and southward. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Averagemeasurementsof sixty specimens from Florida. Length, 700; stretch, 1100; wing, 360; tail, 2 32; bill, 'SS; 

 tarsus, (0). Lcmgest specimen, 7-5(i; greatest extent of wing, 11-50; longest wing, 3 80; tail, 2'60, hill, '58; tarsus, -80. 

 Shortest spe(;iTnen, 6'.50; smallest extent of wing, I0'50; slua-test wing, S'JIO; tail, iJ'05; hill, -45; tarsus, '52. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in trees or bushes or on the ground. They are rather elaliorate structures, being composed of twigs and 

 weeds, lined with Spanish moss. 



Eggs, one or two in number, varying from elliptical to oval in fonn, pure white or creamy in color. Dimensions from 

 •63x-80 to 63 X un. 



