Across the Fields. 



281 



shades of brownish claret. They are about an inch and two thirds long by 

 an inch and one third broad. 



The White-winged Dove is found on the southern boundary of the 



United States, from Florida, where it must be regarded as rare, through 



Texas to Lower California. It breeds in the United 

 vv nite-wingred 



Dovf States, in Southern Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. It 



Meiopeiia leucoptera is a pigeou, about a foot long, which has, in adult birds, a 



conspicuous white patch on the closed wing. The tail is 



slightly rounded, the middle feathers are brown, and the others slate or pearl 



color, with broad white tips. The general color of the adult birds is grayish 



drab, or brown, becoming slaty dove color on the rump. The head and 



breast are warm dove color, and the sides of the neck show metallic lustre, 



shading from green to purple. There is a spot of dark metallic blue just 



below the ear. The remainder of the lower parts are pearl, shading into 



white on the feathers below the tail. The female is duller, and immature 



birds resemble the female. 



The birds nest in bushes, cacti, or trees near the ground. They lay two 



creamy white eggs, about an inch and an eighth long and nearly nine tenths 



of an inch broad. This is one of the noticeable birds of Southern Arizona, 



where they live on the dry deserts. 



The Heath Hen, now restricted, so far as known, to the island of Martha's 



Vineyard, Massachusetts, was, as late as the early part of this century, found 



Heath Hen '" localities throughout the Middle States. 



Tympanuchus cupido A bird of the open, wooded country, it differs essen- 



'■^'""''*' tially in this characteristic from the Prairie Hen of the 



West. 



The causes that have led to its rapid extinction and present restriction 

 are obscure, for it is obvious that its use as a game bird, and consequent 

 persecution by gunners, cannot alone account for the existing results. There 

 can be no doubt that the settlement of a country has much farther reaching 

 results and influences on the original fauna than is generally ascribed to it. 



We know well that many of the smaller song birds have notably in- 

 creased in numbers with the clearing and cultivation of the country, that their 

 very habits and even life economy have undergone radical changes. The 



