340 CHARADRIIFORMES chap. 



chestnut breast, occurs from South Mexico to Peru. They frequent 

 wooded and hilly districts, forming small flocks and uttering a cry 

 resembling " huup-huup." Oxy-pelia cyanopis, of the interior of 

 Brazil, and Uropelia campestris, of that country and Bolivia, link 

 the above genus to Columhigallina, which contains six species. 

 C. passerina extends from the southern United States and the 

 West Indies to Peru and Paraguay ; C. minuta occupies a similar 

 range, except for the United States ; and C. cruziana reaches from 

 Ecuador to North Chili all with naked feet ; C hticJcleyi inhabits 

 Ecuador and Peru ; C. talpacoti, most of South America north of 

 Paraguay ; C. rufipennis ranges from Mexico to the north of South 

 America, these three having the metatarsi feathered laterally. C. 

 passcrina is olive-grey, with violet spots on the wing and purplish 

 coverts ; the feathers of the forehead and under parts being vinous, 

 with dull brown centres to the latter, and those of the hinder 

 portion of the head bluish, with dusky margins, which cause a 

 scaly appearance. The female lacks the purple and red tints. C. 

 minuta, the most diminutive Pigeon known, though Oena would 

 be smaller but for its tail, is uniform below. The other species 

 differ but little, though only C. rufipennis has, like the above, the 

 under surface of the wing cinnamon. Flocks of the Ground-Dove 

 or Tortolita, as C. passerina is called, are found amongst open woods 

 and pastures, running about with elevated tails, and feeding chiefly 

 upon the ground on seeds, berries, peas, and grain ; if disturbed, 

 they betake themselves with low and noisy flight to a tree ; but 

 they are usually very tame, and may often be heard uttering their 

 mournful notes on the roofs of outbuildings. The nest, placed in low 

 bushes or on the ground, is carefully constructed and lined with 

 grass, two or three broods being reared in the season. The hen 

 is said to feign disablement at its nest like a Plover, while the 

 birds apparently dust themselves in gallinaceous fashion. Colum- 

 hula picui, distinguished by a blue band on the wing-coverts, 

 occurs in South America from Bolivia and Chili eastward. 



Group {e). The fifth section of the Peristerinae exhibit no 

 metallic spots or lustre, while the wings are rounded and the tail is 

 rather long. Gymnopelia erythrothorax, of the mountains of Peru, 

 Bolivia, and Xorth Chili, is brown, with vinaceous head and 

 breast, and remarkably large naked orbits of orange margined with 

 black. ScardafeUa has crescentic black edges to the feathers, the 

 upper parts being brown and the lower pinky white, while the 



