THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 203 



Females, five specimens, wing 76.2-83.0 (80.0), tail 52.4-57.5 (53.6), 

 culmen with cere 11.1-11.7 (11.4), tarsus 13.8-15.8 (14.7) mm. 



Type, male, wing 81.0, tail 55.0, culmen with cere 10.8, tarsus 

 14.8 mm. 



OREOPELEIA MONTANA (Linnaeus) 

 RUDDY QUAIL-DOVE, PERDIZ, PERDRIX, PERDRIX ROUGE 



Columba montana Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 163 (Jamaica). 



Perdrix rouge, Charlevoix, Hist. Isle Espagnole, vol. 1, 1733, p. 40 (men- 

 tioned). — Descoubtilz, Voy. Nat., vol. 2, 1809, pp. 196-199 (found in hills). 



IColumba montana, Bbyant, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, May, 1867, 

 p. 96 (Dominican Republic). 



Oeotrygon montana, Salle, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1857, p. 235 (Dominican 

 Republic).— Cory, Birds Haiti and San Domingo, Dec, 1884, pp. 132-133 (Puerto 

 Plata, Samana, specimens) ; Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, p. 97 (Haiti, 

 Dominican Republic). — Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, pp. 320, 322 

 (listed). — Cherrie, Field Columbian Mus., Ornith. ser., vol. 1, 1896, p. 24 

 (Dominican Republic). — Verrill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1909, 

 p. 357 (Dominican Republic). — Kaempfer, Journ. fur Ornith., 1924, p. 184 

 (Cotui). 



Oreopeleia montana, Petebs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 61, 1917, p. 406 (Los 

 Toritos).— Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 1928, pp. 520-521 

 (listed). — Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 366 (San Juan, Bonao, Gonave). 



Resident; fairly common in forested areas in regions of consid- 

 erable rainfall. 



The ruddy quail-dove frequents forests where the ground be- 

 neath the trees is sufficiently open to permit it to walk about, con- 

 ditions that are found in swampy woodlands along the lowland 

 streams or in the growths that cover the hills. Verrill reports it 

 from dense growths of sawgrass, which seems unusual, while Abbott 

 found that groves of cacao, with their heavy shade and open lanes 

 along the ground, were frequented instead of the forest growth 

 which they replaced. The quail-dove is retiring so that it usually 

 walks quickly aside to avoid a human intruder or flushes quickly 

 with a flutter of wings to dart immediately behind some cover and 

 then fly away unseen behind this protective screen. The difficulty 

 of hunting it is easily evident. Its presence is often unsuspected 

 except by those who recognize the moaning calls of the males that 

 come regularly during the breeding season from the forest depths, 

 or who have eyes quick enough to detect the movement of birds 

 walking on the ground among the dense shadows amid which they 

 live. 



Salle knew these quail-doves well and gives a graphic word picture 

 of the sombre shade of their forest haunts. Cory reports them as 

 abundant and found them in flocks, a report pertaining apparently 

 to Puerto Plata where he secured six specimens December 16 and 

 18, 1882. He lists one other specimen in his collection from Samana 



