GROUND-DOVES. 



297 



.and at last it is satisfied no wonder ! Between every 

 mouthful it has waggled its tody, as if it would say, 

 " That tastes good," and presently would begin to 

 wrangle a little with the other Doves which approached 

 it and drive them all away, giving them quick blows. 

 Moreover, it so pursued a pair of wild fowl, birds of 

 an entirely different kind, that they withdrew to the 

 farthest corner of the aviary. It is a shame that I 

 can procure no female for the Dove, as it is broody 

 and keeps carrying twigs about. Breeding it would 

 certainly be very interesting." 



The above is necessarily a somewhat free translation, 

 as Russ has a trick of abruptly changing his tenses, and 

 in any, case a strict verbal translation would sound 

 comical in English. 



The London Zoological Society first purchased four 

 examples of this Dove in 1864, and has added others to 

 its collection certainly as recently as 1885, if not since 

 "that date. 



MOUNTAIN WITCH GROUND-DOVE (Geotryg&n cristata). 



Interscapular region and upper wing-coverts purplish- 

 chestnut ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dark 

 .greenish blue shot with purple ; primaries cinnamon, 

 greenish-black at the tips, especially on the inner webs ; 

 secondaries and tail above blackish-green ; forehead 

 .blackish-grey, shading into olive-brown towards the 

 back ; a broad, dull reddish stripe on the cheeks ; 

 :throat rufescent ; neck golden-green shot with purple ; 

 breast dark grey ; middle of abdomen pale vinous ; 

 Asides, flanks, and under tail-coverts chestnut, the latter 

 with pale edges ; under wing-coverts cinnamon ; tail 

 below brown ; bill black. Female with paler thighs and 

 under tail-coverts, as also the primaries. (Gosse.) Hab., 

 Jamaica. 



Gosse says ("Birds of Jamaica," pp. 317-320) : " This 

 magnificent bird inhabits the most retired mountains, 

 and the deepest woody glades there ; places difficult 

 of approach and rarely traversed. In the dense and 

 lofty forest that clothes the brow of Bluefields Peak it 

 is very numerous, usually seen singly or in pairs, walk- 

 ing on the ground ; the freedom of the forest there 

 from underwood allowing it to exercise its fleetness of 

 ioot to advantage. If alarmed, it generally seeks to 

 escape by running, its bulk and shortness of wing 

 rendering its flight burdensome and ineffective. Its 

 coo consists of two loud notes, the first short and sharp, 

 the second protracted and descending with a mournful 

 cadence. At a distance its first note is inaudible ; and 

 'the second, reiterated at measured intervals, sounds like 

 the groaning of a dying man. These moans, heard in 

 the most recluse and solemn glens, while the bird is 

 rarely seen, have probably given it the name of Moun- 

 tain Witch." 



"Various seeds and nuits I have found in the giz- 

 ssards of many ithat I have examined, some haird and 

 tony, others farinaceous and comminuted. The seed 

 of the lance-wood is said 'to afford it food." 



" I hiad been assured by intelligent men, very familiar 

 Tvdlth these birds, tohiat the Mountain Witch lays in 

 March, in the angle of the roots of a tree, on the 

 ground ; Itlhalt the young Heave the nest aiboult a week 

 after they are hatched, and 1 are ted about by the mother, 

 who scratches for them in the manner of a (fowl. Some 

 liave declared that they have (been eye-iwitnesses of this, 

 persons who have never hmrd that this pigeon has any 

 systematic affinity to the Gallinacece. I made many 

 inquiries, and found the statement very general, almost 

 universal . A (female shot in March had ian egg in the 

 ^mduct, shelled and perfectly ready for exclusion ; it 



was of a dull reddish-white, unspotted, and measured 

 l^in. by |in." 



The London Zoological 'Society first acquired ithds 

 Dove in 1660, and purchased three more in 1861, and 

 four in 1869. Russ does not mention its occurrence in 

 any of the Continental! bird-markets. 



VENEZUELAN GnouND-iDovE \Gtotrygon venezuelensis). 



Above rufous-brown ; mantle purplish -blue ; lesser 

 wing-coverts tinged with purple ; primaries siaty -brown ; 

 forehead rufous, becoming vinous on .the crown and 

 on the centre of the back of the head into purplisli- 

 vinous, bounded at the sides by grey ; 'back of neck 

 puinpldisih-lbrown ; sides of head whitish, rufous towards 

 base of lower mandible ; a blackish line below the 

 cheeks ; throat whitish, changing to dull greyish-vinous 

 alt 'back of throat and front of breast ; rest oif under- 

 surface reddish-brown, becoming much whiter in centre 

 of abdomen ; flights 'below greyish-brown ; under wing- 



BLEEDING-HEART AND BARRANQUILLA PIGEONS. 



coverts brawn, the 'greater ones somewhat greyish ; 

 tail below brown, darker towards Itip of inner welbs ; 

 irides brownish -yellow. 'Female not differentiated. 

 BDalb., Venezuela. 



I have not been able to find any field-notes relating 

 to ithds pigeon. iSix specimens of it were presented to 

 tthe London Zoological Society by Caiptaan Pam on 

 August llth, 1909. 



BLEEDING-HEART PIGEON (Phlogcenas luzonica). 



In the cock bird the crown of the head is bluish ash- 

 grey ; the back of (the neck purplish maroon ; the re- 

 mainder of the upper surface as of a bronzy greyish- 

 brown, shot with emerald green ; the upper wing- 

 coventis are shaded with crimson, and broadly tipped 

 with pal ! e bluish ash-Kxxk>ur ; the shoulder clouded with 

 the same colour ; the primaries and secondaries sligWy 

 rufous tinlted on outer web ; Itihe throat pure 'white ; tihe 

 breaab with a deep blood -i-ed icentrail diffused patch, the 

 remainder of the breast being Stained with pale salmon, 

 which also tints the front of the belly ; Itihe sides ashy- 

 brown, changing into 'Olivaceous clay-brown on the 

 Ibelly ; the feathers round the vent white, stained with 

 pale sandy-brownish round the sides, the under tail- 



