ch^rrie;: ornithoIvOGy of the Orinoco region, 351 



where it was not uncommon. The presence of this species in any 

 locality seems to be governed largely, if not entirely, by the ripening 

 of the fruits on which they feed. 



Fresh birds have the eye Indian purple, eye-lids burnt carmine; 

 bill poppy-red with the distal one-fourth pearl white; feet heliotrope 

 purple. 



Berlepsch and Hartert record a specimen collected b}- Klages at 

 Suapure on the Caura River. 



CoLUMBA purpureotincta Ridgway. 

 Columha pnrpurcotvncta Ridgw., Proc. U. S. N. M., X., p. 594 note, 1887; 



Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 117. 



Common in the savanna regions about Maipures, on the upper 

 river during December. Not observed below the falls of Atures. 



Eye heliotrope purple, eye-lids burnt carmine; bill black; feet dark 

 rose-purple. 



CoLUMBA RUFiNA Tcmminck & Knip. 

 Columha rufina Temm. & Knip, Pig. I. 1808-11. p. 59. PI. 24; Berlepsch 



& Hartert, p. 117. 



Native name Turca. Common on the upper Orinoco as well as 

 along the middle stretches of the river. This species feeds almost 

 exclusively on fruits ; it is chiefly arboreal, frequenting the less 

 heavily wooded regions and borders of the dense forest, and is, except- 

 ing during the nesting season, gregarious. 



Eye rose red; bi41 black; feet rose red, claws dusky. 



Nests of this species were found in Moriche palms and the 

 tangled thickets that grow in and about marshy places, also in the 

 scrub-oaks scattered over the savannas. The nest is a very slight 

 platform of dead twigs located at from two to five metres from the 

 ground. Only one egg is laid. An egg with incubation well ad- 

 vanced, taken at Caicara, June 5th, is white, elliptical ovate in form 

 and measures 39.3 x 26 mm. 



Zenaida ruficauda robinsoni Ridgway. 

 Zenaida vinaceorufa Ridgw,, Proc, U. S. N. M. VH. 1884, p, 176. 

 Zenaida ruficauda vinaceorufa Berlepjch & Hartert, p. 118. 

 Zenaida ruficauda robinsoni Ridgway, Proc. Biol, Soc, Wash. XXVHI 

 1915: p. 107 (Honda. Colombia). 



