NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 199 



spectively. These are described as a strong olive-buff color. Mr. Sennett describes 

 them as of a light drab, or light olive drab, and gives the measurements of four 

 specimens as follows: 1.14x.89, 1.12x.88, 1.16x.83, 1.15x.85; averaging 1.14x.86. 



319. WHITE- WINGED DOVE. Melopclia leticoptera (Linn.) Geog. Dist. 

 Southern border of the United States (Texas to Arizona) and Lower California, 

 southward to Costa Rica and the West Indies. 



Dr. James C. Merrill mentions this as a very common species during the summer 

 months in the vicinity of Fort Brown, Texas. The nests, he states, are, "as a rule, 

 smaller and more frail than those of the Carolina Dove, and the eggs have a decided 

 creamy tinge, which is rarely lost after blowing, at least not for months. Thirty- 

 four eggs average 1.17x.88; extremes 1.30x.95 and 1.05x.80. The note is a deep 

 sonorous coo, frequently repeated and heard at a great distance." At Lomita Ranch 

 on the Rio Grande, in Texas, Mr. Sennett found this species to be more abundant 

 than all the other pigeons combined, and when they have begun breeding, all day 

 long the air is filled with the music of their cooing, drowning out the notes of most 

 other birds. They are the last of the doves to come in the spring and leave about 

 November. By the first of May eggs were found. Their color, Mr. Sennett describes, 

 as varying from white to cream, the latter prevailing, and two is the number laid. 

 From a large series the size averages 1.14x.88; the largest, 1.22x.93, the smallest, 

 1.05x.88. Two sets of the eggs of this Dove are in the cabinet of J. Parker Norris. 

 One of two sets of eggs taken May 1, 1884, in Neuces county, Texas, measure l.lOx 

 .82, l.lOx.81. The second set collected near Catulla, Texas, May 11, 1887, measure 

 1.05x.78, 1.08x.79, respectively. 



320. GROUND DOVE. Columbtffallina passerina tcrrestris Chaprn. Geog. 

 Dist. South Atlantic and Gulf States; Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, 

 south to the West Indies and the northern portion of South America. 



A diminutive Dove, measuring only six or seven inches in length. Abundant in 

 Mexico, Yucatan, Central America and the W T est Indies. In the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States it is a common and familiar species, nesting indiscriminately on the 

 ground, on stumps, on vines, bushes and young saplings. The nest is elevated 

 sometimes as high as twenty feet, but usually from two to six feet above the ground, 

 and is simply a frail structure of twigs, often containing pine needles. The breeding 

 season in Georgia begins early in April, and fresh eggs may be found in May, June 

 and sometimes in July. Mr. Perry informs me that in the vicinity of Savannah he 

 has taken fresh eggs as late as July 9th. Mr. Arthur T. Wayne took a set of two 

 eggs near Charleston, S. C., October 19th, 1886; these contained small embryos and 

 the parent bird was incubating.* This date, however, is exceptional. Mr. Walter 

 Hoxie, of Frogmore, S. C., states that this species is called Mourning Dove by the 

 natives, who used to have a superstition that any one who molested their nest would 

 be "mourned to death" by the grief-stricken owners. The eggs are two in number, 

 white or creamy in color; a large series averages .85x.65. 



320a. MEXICAN GROUND DOVE. Columbiffallina passerina pallcscens 

 (Baird.) Geog. Dist. Mexico and contiguous territory of United States, from Texas 

 to Lower California; south on both Mexican coasts to Central America. 



According to the late Major Bendire in his "Life Histories of North American 

 Birds," the breeding range of the Mexican Ground Dove within our borders is con- 



* Ornithologist and Oologist: Vol. XII, p. 7. 



