PIGEONS AND DOVES. 187 



ORDER COLUMB^J. PIGEONS AND DOVES. 



FAMILY COLUMBID^E. PIGEONS AND DOVES. 



About one third of the three hundred known species of Pigeons 

 and Doves are found in the New World, but of this number only twelve 

 species occur in North America. The birds of this family differ widely 

 in their choice of haunts. Some are strictly arboreal, others as strictly 

 terrestrial. Some seek the forests and others prefer fields and clear- 

 ings. Some nest in colonies, others in isolated pairs, but most species 

 are found in flocks of greater or less size after the breeding season. 

 When drinking, they do not raise the head as other birds do to swal- 

 low, but keep the bill immersed until the draught is finished. The 

 young are born naked and are fed by regurgitation. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



A. Tail widely tipped with white or grayish white. 



a. Tail pointed. 



a 1 . Back or rump bluish slate-color 315. PASSENGER PIGEON. 



a a . Back olive grayish brown 316. MOURNING DOVE. 



b. Tail square 317. ZENAIDA DOVE. 



E. Tail not tipped with white. 



a. Upper parts dark slate-color 314. WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON. 



b. Upper parts rufous with purplish reflections. 



b 1 . Line below the eye and belly white or whitish . 322. QUAIL DOVE. 

 A a . Line under the eye and belly butty ochraceous. 



322.1. EUDDT QUAIL DOVE. 



c. Upper parts grayish olive-brown. 



c l . Crown blue, a white line below the eye. 



323. BLUE-HEADED QUAIL DOVE. 

 A Crown pinkish or like the back 320. GROUND DOVE. 



314. Columba leucocephala Linn. WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON. 

 Ad. S . Rich slate-color ; crown white ; back of the head purplish chestnut ; 

 back of the neck with greenish reflections, each feather with a black border. 

 Ad. 9. Similar, but paler; crown ashy, less purplish chestnut: back and 

 sides of the neck brownish ash with metallic reflections and black margins. 

 L., 13-50; W., 7-50; T., 5-10; B., -70. 



Range. Florida Keys, West Indies, and coast of Central America. 

 Nest, in low bushes. Eggs, two, glossy white, 1-41 x 1-02. 



This Pigeon is locally common in some of the keys off southern 

 Florida, and has been known to occur on the mainland. According 

 to Mr. J. W. Atkins (Auk, vi, 1889, p. 246), it arrives at Key West early 

 in May and remains until November. 



315. Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.). PASSENGER PIGEON. (See 

 Fig. 28.) Ad. S . Upper parts rich bluish slate-color; back and sides of the 



