338 ZENA1DURA CAROL1NEXSIS. 



ZENAIDUKA CAEOLINENSIS. 



Carolina Dove. 

 Zenaidura Carolinensis BON., Consp. Av. II; 1854, 84. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cii. Form, slender. Size, medium. Sternum, not very stout. Tongue, long, thin, and narrow, horny at tip 

 which is pointed. Cocca, wanting. Tail, long and graduated. 



COLOR. Adult male. Top of head, excepting forehead, and remainder of upper parts, excepting primaries, seconda- 

 ries, aud tail, bluish-ash, pure only on the top of head and on greater wing covert", strongly overw;!s!ied elsewhere with 

 olivaceous-brown. Scapularies, broadly spotted with black. Wings, brown, slightly edged with whitish. Tail, ash-blue, 

 o.verwashed with olivaceous on the middle pair of feathers, and all, excepting thee. are tipped with a lighter shade which 

 becomes white on the outer margins of the firt pair; while all, excepting middle pair, have a subtrnninnl bund of black. 

 Under wing coverts, sides, and flanks, pale bluish-ash. Remainder of under parts, forehead, sides of head, and neck, pur- 

 plish-brown, overwashed with bluish on the breast, and becoming light yellowish on the throat, abdomen, and under tail 

 coverts. Sides of neck, glossed witha violet iridescence which has greenish and golden reflections. There is a small, black 

 spot on the side of the head which has a bluish gloss. 



Adult female. Quite similar to the male, but differs in being mucli browner above and below, and there is less irides- 

 cence on the neck. 



Nestlinys. Not unlike the adult, but with the feathers edged with lighter. Top of head, spotted with black, and the 

 black markings on the back are much more extended. The throat is destitute of feathers in the younger stages. Feet, 

 pink, bill, black, iris, brown, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens from Florida are much redder below, darker abjve, and are somewhat smaller than more northern birds. 

 Readily known from the preceding species by the small size and absence of cinnamon spots on the base of tail, and from 

 other Doves by the pointed tail which has fourteen feathers. Occurs in summer throughout the United States, wintering 

 from Massachusetts southward but not common at this season north of the Carolinas. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of male specimens from Eastern United States. Length, 11'85; stretch, 17' 12; wing, 6'05; tail, 

 5'2o; bill, '60; tarsus, '85. Longest specimen, 12'75; greatest extent of wing, 18"25; longest wing, 5'60; tail, G'OO; bill, 

 70; tarsus, 1 00. Shortest specimen, 11 00; smallest extent of wing, 16'GO; shortest wing, 6'75: tail, 4'50; bill, '50; tar- 

 sus, -70. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in low trees or bushes; they are not bulky structures, being composed of sticks carelessly arranged, and 

 are without lining. 



Eyy*, one or two in number, varying from elliptical to oval inform, pure creamy- white in color, with the surface very 

 smooth. Dimensions, from '75 x T02 to '90 x 1'23. 



HABITS. 



The Turtle Doves have a wide distribution, being found from Massachusetts to Key 

 West, Florida, and they breed in all the localities in which they occur. They are, how- 

 ever, much more abundant in some localities than in others; thus in Massachusetts, they 

 occur on Cape Cod much more commonly than in the interior, and in Pennsylvania, they 

 are very abundant along the fertile valleys of the Susquehanna and its tributaries. In the 

 South, they have a much more general distribution for they are found in large numbers 

 among the plantations, in the hummocks, and in the piney woods, while they are very com- 

 mon on the Keys. They appear to adapt themselves to circumstances quite readily; thus, 

 when alarmed at Key West, they will instantly alight in the midst of the thickest jungles, 

 where they are effectually concealed, while in the piney woods, they invariably fly to the 

 high tops of dead trees when startled, where they can watch the approach of the intruder; 



