BIRDS OF NEW YORK 389 



Columbigallina passerina terrestris (Chapman) 

 Ground Dove 



Columbigallina passerina terrestris Chapman. Am. Miis. Nat. Hist . 

 Bui. 1892. 4: 292 



A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. Xo. 320 



columbigallina, Lat. columha, pigeon or dove, and gallina, hen; passerina, 

 sparrowlike; terrestris, terrestrial 



Description. Very small. Male: Forehead and under parts mostly 

 vinaceijus, the chest feathers with blackish centers; crown and back of 

 head bluish gray; back brownish gray; wing coverts with dark steel-blue 

 spots; tail blackish toward the end and tipped with whitish; bill coral red 

 at base, blackish toward the tip. Female and young: Much paler and 

 duller. 



Length 6-7 inches; wing 3.5; tail 2.7; bill .45. 



This diminutive pigeon inhabits the Southern States from Texas to North 

 Carolina, and is accidental in the North Atlantic States. It was added to 

 the New York list by Dr George B. Grinnell who gives the following account 

 of its capture: 



Early one Saturday in October 1862, I set out with another small bov, 

 Henry A. Clap]:), on a shooting excursion, the expected game being robins 

 and flickers, with the possibility of a wild pigeon. We had just entered 

 a piece of woods just north of the present 158th street, between what were 

 later to become nth and 12th avenues, when a small flock of birds alighted 

 in a tall tulip tree almost above our heads. I was carrying the gun at the 

 moment and fired at one of the birds resting on a branch, and when it fell 

 and I picked it up I saw that it was a very small "pigeon." Neither my 

 companion nor myself had ever seen anything like it but we both had seen 

 Passenger pigeons. 



When we had crossed the dirt road which is now 158th street we had 

 seen Mr John Woodhouse Audubon mending fence near the comer of 158th 

 street and 12th avenue, and knowing that he knew all about birds we went 

 down to him and asked him to tell us what this was. He was a near neigh- 

 bor of ottr parents, and we knew him ver\' well, for much of our time was 

 spent plaving with his sons in and about his house and stables. He told 

 us that it was a Ground dove, and pointed out a number of its characters. 

 He also said, as I recall it, that he had never before seen one in that neigh- 

 borhood. 



