THE CAROLINA DOVE. 375 
to support the parent bird: it is but very little hollowed, 
and has no lining of softer material. The female deposits 
in this one or two eggs, on which both birds incubate. 
These eggs are pure-white in color, nearly oval in form, and 
have the slightest roseate tint before their contents are 
removed: they average in dimensions about 1.54 by 1.10 
inch. Many writers affirm that but one egg is laid at 
atime. I think that in the greater number of nests two 
are deposited, as I have inquired of many hunters and 
woodsmen, and they all agree on that number. 
Sub-Family ZENAIDINE. 
Tarsi stout, lengthened; always longer than the lateral toes, and entirely with- 
out feathers; the tibial joint usually denuded; tarsus sometimes with hexagonal 
scales anteriorly; tail feathers sometimes fourteen. 
ZENAIDURA, BoNnAPARTE. 
Zenaidura, BONAPARTE, Consp. Avium, II. (1854) 84. (Type Columba Caroli- 
nensis, L.) Probably named previously in Comptes Rendus. 
Bill weak, black; culmen from frontal feathers, about one-third the head above; 
tarsus not quite as long as middle toe and claw, but considerably longer than the 
lateral ones; covered anteriorly by a single series of scutelle; inner lateral claw 
considerably longer than outer, and reaching to the base of middle; wings pointed, 
second quill longest, first and third nearly equal; tail very long, equal to the wings; 
excessively graduated and cuneate, of fourteen feathers. 
The fourteen tail feathers render this genus very conspicuous among the North- 
American doves. It was formerly placed with the Passenger Pigeon in Ectopistes, 
but has nothing in common with it but the lengthened tail, as it belongs to a differ- 
ent sub-family. 
ZENAIDURA CAROLINENSIS.— Bonaparte. 
The Carolina Dove; Turtle Dove. 
Columba Carolinensis, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766), 286, No. 87. Wils. Am. 
Orn., V. (1812) 91. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 91; V. (1839) 555. Nutt. Man., I. 
(1832) 626. 
Zenaidura Carolinensis, Bonaparte. Consp. Av., II. (1854) 84. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Tail feathers fourteen; above bluish, although this is overlaid with light brown- 
ish-olive, leaving the blue pure only on the top of the head, the exterior of the 
