376 PIGEONS AND SAND-GROUSE. 



Indies. In the male of this species the crown and upper-parts of the body 

 are bluish, mostly washed with light olive-brown ; the rest of the head and 

 under-parts being cinnamon-buff, tinged with purple on the breast. The female 

 is smaller, and has the under-parts brown like the back, but paler. Captain 

 Bendire states that this bird is frequently found breeding in gardens and 

 shrubberies near dwelling-houses, feeding in the barnyard among domestic fowls. 

 Never occurring in large flocks like the passenger-pigeon, it is usually found in 

 small parties of from six to a dozen or more, and in autumn, previous to its 

 migration, may be met with in flocks of fifty or sixty. It is fond of alighting in 

 roads, where it may often be seen searching for suitable food or gravel, or taking 

 a dust-bath, of which it is very fond. In the more arid districts of the West, such 

 as South Arizona, where water is scarce, this dove, like the sand-grouse, visits 

 regular watering-places in the morning and evening, to which it may be seen 

 coming in small parties from all directions. The nesting-sites chosen are variable, 

 and in some localities, such as the Carolinas, these doves nest chiefly on the ground, 

 while they are said occasionally to lay their eggs in other birds' nests. The old 

 birds are attentive to their young, even long after they have left the nest, and the 

 female has been observed covering fully-fledged young. As many as four eggs 

 have been found in one nest, but whether these were all laid by one bird is 

 uncertain. The seven species of the genus Zenaida, inhabiting the West Indies 

 and Central and South America, differ in having the tail only moderately long and 

 rounded. The Zenaida dove (Z. amabilis) of the West Indies has the upper-parts 

 brown, with some black spots on the wings, the chin white, the cheeks and throat 

 ruf escent, two steel-blue spots above and below the ear-coverts, and the top of the 

 head, breast, and under-parts vinous. The quills are black, edged with white, and 

 there is a conspicuous white band at the end of the secondaries. Rather solitary 

 in its habits, it is never met with in flocks, nor does it breed in communities. Its 

 food consists of small seeds, the principal part of its time being spent on the 

 ground ; and when flushed it flies off in a straight line much like a quail. The 

 nesting-habits vary much in different localities. In the Bahamas they have been 

 found nesting in the fork of a fallen tree about three feet from the ground, while 

 other nests were in holes in rocks. Among the islands at Indian Key, the nest is 

 placed in a small hole scooped in the sand, and is composed of. dry leaves and 

 twigs, with a matted inner lining of blades of dry grass, the whole structure being 

 more compact than that of other pigeons. Writing of another South American 

 species (Z. auriculata), distinguished by having no white tips to the secondary 

 flight-feathers, Mr. Hudson says, that it " is the commonest species of the pigeon- 

 tribe in the Argentine country, and is known to every one as the ' Torcasa,' 

 probably a corruption of Tortola, or turtle-dove. In autumn they often congregate 

 in very large flocks, and are sometimes observed migrating, flock succeeding flock, 

 all travelling in a northerly direction, and continuing to pass for several consecutive 

 days. But these autumnal migrations are not witnessed every year, nor have I 

 seen any return-migration in spring ; while the usual autumn and winter move- 

 ments are very irregular, and apparently depend altogether on the supply of food. 

 When the giant thistle has covered the plains in summer, incredible numbers of 

 torcases appear later in the season, and usually spend the winter on the plains. 



