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G E O N. 



understood to be two in number, of a white colour, 

 nearly transparent, and so delicate that they can 

 hardly be touched without being broken. The com- 

 mon English name of Cape turtle is very inapplicable 

 to this bird, and the French name of Hottentot turtle 

 is still more so, because the whole Cape territory is 

 but a fraction of its pasture, and the country of the 

 Hottentots is of course a still smaller one. 



The Macquarrlc Turtle. This is an Australian 

 species, and would have been more correctly named 

 if it had been called after its county, and not after 

 Governor Macquarrie. In size and shape it very 

 much resembles the turtle of Southern Africa last 

 described, but the markings of its colours are different. 

 Notwithstanding this, it may be the same identical 

 species ; for it is a pretty general law among birds 

 that those in which the sexes and the old and the 

 young differ much from each other in colour are the 

 most liable to have their colours altered by difference 

 of climate. This one has the whole of the upper 

 part brownish, and the head, neck, and breast bluish- 

 grey ; the smaller coverts of the wing are also brown- 

 ish, but spotted with white, each spot surrounded by 

 a black circle ; the greater coverts are ash colour, 

 but spotted in the same manner as the others ; the 

 quills are reddish-brown ; the tail-feathers are similar 

 in shape to those of the preceding species, the central 

 ones are blackish-brown, and the lateral ones bluish- 

 ash colour ; all the under part below the grey on the 

 breast is pure white ; the bill is black, the naked 

 space round the eyes orange, and the feet reddish. 

 Differences of colour in those naked parts of the bird 

 are much more specific than differences of the plu- 

 mage ; but even they are not altogether to be de- 

 pended on. So far as the manners of this species 

 have been observed, they appear to be the same as 

 those of the African bird, making allowance for the 

 difference of the countries which they inhabit. 



Thus it may be said, that there are turtles in three 

 distinct localities : first, southern Europe, northern 

 Africa, and western and central Asia ; secondly, 

 America, chiefly the northern part of it ; and thirdly, 

 Southern Africa and Australia ; and it is not a little 

 remarkable that those of the north-west and south- 

 east should resemble each other much more than 

 either of them does the intermediate ones. 



GROUND DOVES. These form the third section of 

 the great family of pigeons ; but, as in the others, the 

 line of separation is by no means clear and definite ; 

 and, notwithstanding the fondness which many natu- 

 ralists show for extreme minuteness of division, there 

 is a distinct character which runs through the whole 

 family, from the most lofty inhabitant of the tall 

 forests, to the most lowly dweller upon the ground. 

 We have seen that the pigeons and the turtles are 

 chiefly ground feeders, and some of the turtles, we 

 may say, are exclusively so, though they all nestle at 

 some elevation above the ground, except the rock 

 pigeon, and some of the others when there are no 

 trees conveniently situated for them. The ground 

 doves very generally, if not exclusively, find their 

 food upon the ground, but very many of them perch, 

 and it is probable (for we know little of the habits of 

 most of them) that not a few of them nestle in trees, 

 or, at all events, in bushes. Generally speaking, 

 they are birds having their flying feathers less deve- 

 loped than those of the other sections ; because, of 

 their terrene habit, they have been described as ap- 

 proximating the gallinaceous birds ; but though they 



do partially correspond with these in this particular 

 habit, they, in their essential characters, and in the 

 air and aspect of their bodies, differ materially. 

 Their clothing feathers are also much looser, and in 

 one species, which differs much in its general aspect, 

 the feathers are much produced, and hung loosely 

 apart from each other. Although, as we have said, 

 many of them perch, and some probably nestle in 

 trees, yet they are much better fitted for walking 

 than any others of the family. Their tarsi are longer 

 and stronger than in these, and their feet are by no 

 means well adapted for grasping, the claw* being 

 straight and blunt. Their flight is low and fluttering, 

 though not so much so as in the gallinaceous birds ; 

 and they flit from place to place upon the wing, but 

 always alight at short distances, and range the spot 

 where they alight on foot. They are thus adapted to 

 peculiar localities ; namely, open plains interspersed 

 with bushes and thickets, and consisting alternately 

 of barren and fertile spots. In this respect they are 

 certainly intermediate between the other divisions of 

 the family and the gallinaceous birds. Even those of 

 the former, which most habitually feed upon the 

 ground, can dash rapidly on the wing over consider- 

 able distances; while the gallinaceous birds very 

 seldom have recourse to the wing, unless when they 

 are alarmed, or flying to their perches. This inter- 

 mediate habit of the ground doves determines in 

 some measure their localities. The prairies of North 

 America are very often alternate hummock and bare 

 surface. It is the same in all countries within the 

 tropics, at least for a considerable period of the year. 

 Hence, North America is, we believe, the only tem- 

 perate part of the world in which ground doves occur, 

 and they occur also in the south and south-east of 

 the old continent. There are none in Europe, and, 

 we believe, there are none in Asia northward of the 

 mountains which lie between Persia and Upper India 

 and the central regions. 



In consequence of the dissimilarity of size and 

 colour in these birds, authors have subdivided them 

 into various groups ; but the grouping does not con- 

 vey much information, and our space will allow us to 

 notice only a few of the most strongly marked of the 

 species. 



American Ground Dove. Though this bird is found in 

 temperate America, it does not reach so far north as 

 Virginia. It is,however,abundantinthesouthern states, 

 and also in the West India islands. In the West Indies 

 it is sometimesconfined in cages. The French planters 

 give it the dignified name of Ortolan ; the bird is most 

 numerous in the islands on the coast of Carolina and 

 Georgia^ where they fly in coveys of from fifteen to 

 twenty. They are most commonly met with in the 

 open fields and plantations, which they prefer to the 

 forests ; they are generally seen on the ground; and 

 though scared off, they only fly a little way and again 

 alight. They feed on rice, seeds, and berries of 

 the toothache and other trees, under whose shade 

 they are almost sure to be met with in the proper 

 season. Their flesh is esteemed as excellent food. 

 Their note is a low plaintive one, which is accom- 

 panied by the usual gestures of their tribe. They are 

 migrant birds, and, on the approach of winter, retire 

 to the islands and to the more southerly parts of the 

 continent, and return to their former haunts about the 

 beginning of April. They are of a more delicate and 

 slender form, and less capable of enduring the severity 

 of cold than either of the other two species met with 



