RING-TAIL PIGEON. 295 



seen four thus engaged on a tree in the house-yard. 

 It eats the seed of the yam also in the provision 

 ground. 



When the vernal rains have copiously descended, 

 the "negro-yam" sends out plentifully its young 

 and tender shoots : the tips of these, with the un- 

 opened leaves and buds, are particularly agreeable 

 to this exquisite bird, and it may often be shot 

 at that season in the grounds of the mountain 

 slopes. It is, however, then in poor condition. 



By an Act of the Colonial Legislature, 10 Ann. 

 xvi. 3, wild pigeons were forbidden to be killed 

 in the parishes of St. Catherine or St. John's, or on 

 any island or kay, in the months of May, June, 

 and July, under a penalty of forty shillings, or slaves 

 to have thirty-nine lashes. Since the abolition of 

 slavery, this, as well as many other laws, of simi- 

 larly oppressive character, has been repealed. 



Robinson found in one, the hard perforated seeds 

 of the small palmetto-thatch. He mentions also, 

 that in the autumn they owe their fatness to feeding 

 on the fruit of the trumpet-tree, wild-raspberries, and 

 wild star-apples. " It is remarkable," he observes, 

 " that the thighs [tibiae ?] are twice the length of 

 the legs [tarsi ?]." 



The unwonted absence of the seasonal rains in the 

 spring of 1846, rendered my efforts to obtain spe- 

 cimens of this fine bird fruitless, though I sent 

 experienced persons many times to their usual 

 haunts. I am therefore compelled to give a de- 

 scription from Dr. Robinson's MSS. The preced- 

 ing accounts, also, are the results, not of personal 



