492 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. io4 



Family Columbidae: Pigeons, Doves 



Columba speciosa Gmelin 



Columba speciosa Gmelin, Systema naturae, vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 783 (Cayenne, 

 ex Daubenton, Planches enlumin^es, pi. 215). 

 IcT, Caicara, May 30, 1950; gonads enlarged (17 mm. long); iris brown; bill 

 bright red, the tip flesh color; eye ring red; feet dull purple; skull well ossified; 

 bird molting the rectrices. 



The large-scaled pigeon was apparently present at Caicara only 

 during April, May, and June when small flocks of less than 10 individ- 

 uals were seen, always in the rather heavy woods of the "quebradas" 

 which cut back into the savanna of the mesa. The call was a very low 

 cooo like that of distant cattle; for this reason the bird was known 

 locally as "paloma tora" (bull pigeon). A cup-shaped nest of twigs, 

 without lining, was found in late April, placed only about 10 feet up in 

 a ''chaparro" {Curatella americana) on the savanna in the immediate 

 vicinity of a "quebrada" frequented by these birds. A fledgling was 

 seen on May 22. 



Columba corensis Jacquin 



Columba {corensis) Jacquin, Beytrage zur Geschichte der Vogel, 1784, p. 31 (Core, 

 Venezuela). 



In our 1950 report we recorded this bare-eyed pigeon from Cantaura, 

 but not from Caicara. Subsequently it has been seen at the latter 

 locality. 



Zenaidura auriculata steuura (Bonaparte) 



Zenaida stenura Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. 40, No. 3, January 

 15, 1855, p. 98 ("Columbia" = Colombia). 



The following field notes on the breeding habits of this dove extend 

 the data in our earlier (1950) report: At least during the months of 

 January thi'ough August, a type of display is given. Shortly after 

 sunrise, an occasional single is seen to take off from a treetop and fly 

 upwards with deep, rapid wing-beats. The flight upwards is at a steep 

 angle, perhaps 30 to 40 degrees. When a height of perhaps 100 to 150 

 feet is reached, the bird glides down on rigid, downspread wings, 

 describing, in the process, a large semicircle, which ends at, or in the 

 immediate vicinity of, the starting point. This display is given only 

 by birds in fully adult plumage and is apparently given by breeding 

 birds, or at least by bii'ds which have not joined a flock. Also, it is 

 usually given, day after day, from the same starting point, perhaps 

 because the bu^d is on territory, or perhaps merely because the bird 

 habitually spends the night in the same spot. It was noted that the 

 pair generally bills several times, in the manner of domestic pigeons, 

 before the male mounts to copulate. 



