METAL-SPOTTED DOVES. 



28 1 



.bill yellow ; feet red ; i rides with an inner red ring and 

 .an outer yellow one.* Female above 'brown, almost 

 cinnamon on upper tail-coverts ; paler on forehead ; spots 

 c 1 ! upper wing-coverts and inner secondaries 'brownish 

 cinnamon, the 1 larger ones on the median and greater 

 coverts with a .pale posterior edging ; central tail-feaithers 

 brownish cinnamon ; lateral feathers 'black, the inner 

 ones tinged and the outer pair edged with rufous on 

 outer web ; throat whitisn ; lower fore neck and breast 

 pale brown shading into grey on remainder ol under 

 surface; under tail-coverts greyish-cinnamon, under 

 wing-coverts grey. Hab., Southern Mexico, Central and 

 Southern America, southward to Paraguay and Peru. 



T. K. Salmon says of this Dove ("Proceedings of 

 the Zoological Society," 1879. p. 544): "Iris dark. 

 Seeds in stomach. The nest is made of small twigs, 

 and is exceedingly .small and slight; it is placed on the 

 outside boughs of low bushes.'' 



Stolzmann observes (Taczanowski's " Omithologie du 

 Perou," Vol. III., p. 253): "It keeps in the bushes 

 ;at the margins of the rivers, in pairs or little coveys. 

 At Palmal one found it more frequently in the rice- 

 fields and never in the depths of the forest." 



Mr. Walter Goodfellow, in his notes on the Birds of 

 Ecuador (The Avicultiircd Magazine, First Series, 

 Vol. VI., p. 269) says: "At Santo Domingo we 

 obtained some of the exceedingly pretty little pale grey 

 Peristera cinerea. They were always in pairs, running 

 about the paths near the huts, and they had a slight 

 peculiarity in their habits, which I have not noticed in 

 other Doves. When alarmed, instead of taking 1 flight 

 as most Doves do, they remained immovable, skulking 

 a.s near to the ground as possible. At times, when they 

 must have seen my approach long before I got to them, 

 and had plenty of time to clear off, although I had not 

 noticed them, they startled me by dashing up almost 

 from under my feet." 



This swecies reached the Amsterdam Zcological 

 Gardens in 1857. the London Gardens in 1886. and a 

 pair arrived at the Berlin Gardens in 1893 ; the German 

 chemist Landauer and the dentist Langbeinz each 

 possessed a pair for more than two years, but neither 

 succeeded in breeding the species, but the latter gentle- 

 man, observed that this Dov r e was quiet and peaceable 

 in the bird-room : if this is always the case it should be 

 a far more satisfactory bird to keep than most of its 

 family. 



GEOFFROY'S DOVE (Perlstera geoffroyi). 



The adult male above is bluish grey, nearly white on 

 the forehead ; It-he wing coverts crossed by three oblique 

 bands edged with blue-black, that on the lesser coverts 

 Tjlue, the two others on the median and greater coverts 

 purplish chestnut; these bandis are edged behind with 

 pale grey ; bastard wing and primary coverts black ; 

 'flights brown with pale margins; all the tail feathers 

 excepting the central pair with white tips increasing 

 outwardly in depth ; throat whitish ; breast grey ; 

 abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts pure white; under 

 wing coverts black ; feet blood, red ; bill blackish ; iris 

 deep brown with orange outer ring. 



The female and young are reddish ,brown, paler on 

 the forehead ; the wings browner than in the male, the 

 two ouiter bands chestnut edged behind with fawn 

 colour; the flights with reddish margins; all the tail 

 feathers, excepting the central pair, greyish at base, 

 "black in the middle, and reddish-fawn towards their 

 extremities ; the throat and abdomen pale reddish 



* Mr. W. Goodfellow (The Ibis, 1902, p. 228) says: "Beak 

 greyish-green, with yellowish tip; iris red; feet flesh-oloured." 



brown, the breast deeper; the vent and under taa- 

 coverts fawn coloured. Hab., S.E. Brazil. 



Tolerably abundant in New Freiburg, where it feeds 

 not only upon seeds but upon fleshy fruits, according to 

 Burmeister. Stolzmann met with this Dove in the valley 

 of HuayaJbamba, at 5,400 feet elevation. He says 

 (Taczanowski's "Omithologie du Perou," Vol. III., 

 p. 251) : " I have met with this Dove many times on 

 the margins of the temporary lakes, in little companies 

 or in pairs. It is stated that it is much more numerous 

 at the period of the drying up of these water reservoirs, 

 where a certain spring plant shoots up. The natives 

 have given it the name of Palamita-azal = little blue 

 Dove." 



I have discovered no other notes dealing with the 

 wild life, tout there is no doubt thai the nest of this 

 bird consists of a platform of twigs, and that the eggs 

 are white and two in, number. 



The London Zoological Society purchased a pair of 

 this Dove in 1874 ; in 1876 three males and two females 

 were added ; in the same year four young ones were 

 bred f rom three nests ; in 1877 five young were bred, and 

 in 1878 six more ; others were added and bred in later 

 years. Rues says that it is very rare in the German 

 market. 



BLACK-WINGED DOVE (MetriopeHa melanoptera). 



Above greyish-brown, changing to grey on the edges 

 of the outer upper wing-coverts, and into white on the 

 bend and front edge of the wing ; bastard-wing, primary- 

 coverts, and flights black, inner secondaries greyish- 

 brown; central tail feathers greyish-black; lateral 

 feathers black, becoming grey towards the base; sides 

 of neck and under-parts pale vinous ; flanks grey ; under 

 tail-coverts dark grey, the longest ones nearly black; 

 inner tinder wing-coverts black, outer ones white ; bill 

 black; feet brown, with the toes nearly black; iris 

 silvery whitish ; a naked primrose-coloured loral spot ; 

 According ito Stolzmann the iris is dark brown, and 

 according to Taczanoweki the naked orbital skin is milky 

 orange behind and below, with flesh-coloured papillae, 

 in front and above with black papilla. Female with- 

 out the vinous tinge on the under-parts, which are 

 greyish-brown, becoming nearly white on the chin and 

 middle of abdomen. Hab., " Western South America, 

 from Ecuador to Chili, and also on ithe Argentine side 

 of the Cordilleras." (Salvador!.) 



According to Burmeister this Dove " is found in the 

 high valleys of the Cordilleras on the Argentine side, 

 from 6,000 ft. to 12,000 ft. in altitude, and, along with 

 Phrygilus fruticeti, is one of the birds seen at the 

 greatest altitudes by the traveller over the passes of the 

 Andes." (Cf. Sclater and Hudson, "Argentine Orm- 

 ihology," Vol. II., p. 142.) 



Mr. Ambrose A. Lane says (The Ibis, 1897, p. ^98) : 

 " This Dove occurs at Huasco, Saoaya, and other locali- 

 ties in Tarapaca. I only observed it between 8,000 ft. 

 and 12,000 ft. On first going to Huasco, in January, 

 I noticed one or two flocks of upwards of a dozen on the 

 sierras, but subsequently I met with only odd pairs, and 

 they were scarce." 



Mr. Walter Goodfellow says (The Ibis, 1902, p. 227) : 



"Numerous near Cotopaxi, at about 13,500 ft., among 



the rocks and lava. As nothing but a few tufts of 

 coarse grass grew there, it was difficult to imagine 

 what they could find to eat. The stomachs of two that 

 we shot were quite empty. In life they have a primrose 

 spot in front of the eye." 



The Zoological Society of London purchased eight 

 specimens of this strikingly coloured Dove in 1870, but 

 the species does not appear to have bred there. As 



