PIGEON. 



469 



in the United States, both these being found in the 

 northern parts of Canada, as well as in the temperate 

 climate of Florida. 



The length of the ground dove is six inches and a 

 quarter ; the bill of a yellow colour, with a black tip. 

 As is usual with the genus generally, the nostrils are 

 covered with a protruding membrane ; the iris of the 

 eye is orange red; the breast, throat, and sides of 

 the neck are of a pale wine-coloured purple ; the 

 feathers are deeply marked by semicircular margins, 

 those on the throat being dusky blue in the centre ; 

 the crown and back of the head are of a rich pale 

 blue, intermixed with purple, and marked with de- 

 tached spots of a glossy blue, with reflecting tints of 

 purple ; the belly is pale wine-coloured brown, be- 

 coming dark cinereous towards the vent, where the 

 feathers are margined with white; the wing-quills 

 are dusky at the outsides and the tips ; but the whole 

 interior varies, and the lower sides are of a rich red 

 chestnut, which appears a little below their coverts ; 

 the tail, which is rounded, consists of twelve feathers, 

 the two middle ones being cinereous brown, and 

 the rest black, margined and tipped with pure white ; 

 the feet and legs are yellow. The back and tail- 

 coverts of the female are of a mouse colour. She 

 has scarcely any of the wine-coloured tinge on the 

 breast and throat, nor of the light blue on the back 

 of the head ; the throat is spotted with a dull white, 

 pale clay colour, and dusky ; the sides of the neck 

 are of the same colour, and the plumage is strongly 

 marked ; the breast is of a cinereous brown colour, 

 faintly tinctured with purple ; the scapulars are 

 strongly marked with big drops of a dark purplish 

 blood colour, which reflects fine and delicate tints of 

 blue ; the rest of the plumage differs very little from 

 that of the male. 



Rust-coloured Ground Dove. This is a South Ame- 

 rican species, of diminutive size, but a very neat and 

 handsome bird. It inhabits the open ground rather 

 than the woods, though it always perches when at 

 rest, and nestles in a bush or branchy tree near the 

 ground. Paraguay and Brazil are the chief places of 

 its residence, and it is not found in the richly-wooded 

 districts by the rivers, or upon the mountain ridges. 

 It is a very familiar little creature, and does not 

 hesitate to come close to the dwellings of the inha- 

 bitants in search of its food. It is also quite at home, 

 and breeds freely in a state of confinement, though 

 it cannot be domesticated so as to leave its home and 

 again return to it. One might expect this from its 

 habits in wild nature, because it is not very social at 

 any season. In the breeding time the pair live quite 

 solitary, and at no season of the year are more than 

 half a dozen seen together, and these are understood 

 to be the old pair and two broods. Its plumage con- 

 sists principally of two colours. The head and a 

 small portion of the upper neck all round are ashen 

 grey, with a tinge of purple on the front, and reddish 

 white on the throat ; the rest of the plumage is 

 orange brown, passing into dark purple brown on the 

 under part ; there are a few streaks of black on some 

 of the coverts of the wings, and the bastard wing 

 and under wing-coverts are of the same colour ; the 

 principal quills are dark brown inclining to black ; 

 the quills are remarkably broad, and the inner web 

 forms a projecting lobe about the middle of its length ; 

 the tail-feathers are the same colour as those of the 

 wings, with the exception of the two middles ones, 

 which are the same colour as the back, only a little 



lighter in the shade ; the bill and naked skin round 

 the eye are bluish grey, and the tarsi and toes pale 

 purplish red. The female has the head very dull 

 grey, and the under plumage the same ; the back 

 and all the upper part are dull brown with reddish 

 blotches; and the wing?, tail, and naked parts are 

 coloured the same as in the male birds ; the length is 

 very little more than six inches. 



Picui Ground Dove. This species is an inhabitant 

 of the same countries as the last mentioned, and its 

 habits are nearly similar, but it is rather larger and 

 differently coloured. Its length is seven inches and 

 a quarter ; the upper parts are brown, and the front 

 and sides of the hc'ad whitish ; the quills are blackish 

 brown, and the wings are mottled over with small 

 spots of brilliant blue ; the middle tail-feathers are 

 brown, and those next them are brown with white 

 tips, except the two lateral ones, which are white 

 altogether ; the under parts are whitish, clouded with 

 brown on the neck, and wine colour on the breast ; 

 the naked space round the eye is blue, and the bill 

 and feet reddish. 



There are many other species of small ground 

 pigeons in South America ; but the habits of all are 

 so nearly the same, that the specimens we have men- 

 tioned must suffice for the whole. 



Bronze-winged Ground Dove. This is a very 

 handsome species, remarkable for the variety of its 

 colours, and for the distinctness with which everv 

 individual feather comes out, in consequence of the 

 margin being in all cases paler than the middle part 

 of the feather. It is also remarkable for the brilliant 

 glosses which appear on some of the feathers. It is 

 a much larger bird than the two species which we 

 have mentioned, and its wings are more powerful 

 and more pointed than those of any of the ground 

 doves of America. It is about fifteen inches in length ; 

 and the bill, which is blackish at the tip and reddish 

 toward the base, is about an inch in length, which is 

 long in proportion as compared with many of the 

 pigeon tribe. The forehead is whitish and a streak 

 under the eye and the chin are pure white ; the top 

 of the head is reddish brown, surrounded by a mar- 

 gin of deep red ; the cheeks and sides of the neck 

 down to the scapulars are blackish grey, which be- 

 comes paler, and has a purple or lilac tinge on the 

 throat, and breast ; the rest of the under part is grey, 

 glossed with greenish purple ; the clothing-feathers 

 on the upper part are blackish brown, passing into 

 pale orange brown on the margin of each feather ; 

 the coverts of the wings are bluish grey, and each 

 feather has upon its exterior web a spot, of which it 

 is impossible to describe the colour, because it varies 

 in every tint, from intense blue to deep red, accord- 

 ing to the angle on which the light falls upon it ; the 

 upper plumage, generally speaking, has this property, 

 though brown and green are the limits of the colours 

 on the back. In consequence of these variations of 

 colour, it is impossible to give a pictorial repre- 

 sentation which shall be like this bird in the par- 

 ticular light in which an observer may see a specimen. 

 The qnills are brown, passing into orange red on the 

 margins of their inner webs ; and the bastard wing 

 and under coverts of the wings are of the same colour ; 

 the tail is grey in the principal colour, but crossed by a 

 band of black near the tip ; the tarsi and the toes are 

 dark red. 



It is a native of Australia, of New Guinea, and of 

 various other islands in the eastern sea. It is a bird 



