210 COPPER-COLOURED GROUND DOVE. 



ing, it also shews a nearer approach to the true gal- 

 linaceous birds, for its nest is not fixed or built like 

 that of the species we have described, in a tree or 

 bush, but upon the surface of the ground. The num- 

 ber of its eggs, however, are only two, but the 

 young are said to become sooner fledged, or at least 

 able to follow their parents, than those which nidifi- 

 cate at a distance from the ground. In general they 

 are found in families, or associated in larger covies, 

 and in disposition are described as wild and not easily 

 approached. 



In length this bird measures about nine inches. 

 The bill, which is red, is rather more than half an 

 inch ; the basal part of the culmen of the upper man- 

 dible is thinly covered with small feathers. The 

 cheeks and throat are of a reddish- white ; the crown 

 of the head, the back part of the neck, and the whole 

 of the upper plumage are of a rich orange-brown, 

 glossed with purplish red, giving it a coppery appear- 

 ance. The foreneck and breast are reddish-white, 

 tinged with pale purplish-red, and passing upon the 

 belly and abdomen into pale wood-brown, slightly 

 tinged with pale purplish-red. The tail and quill 

 feathers are of the same colour as the back, the first 

 quill broad to the tip. The legs and feet are red ; 

 the tarsi one and an eighth of an inch in length. 



Another species apparently belonging to this group 

 is the 



