344 GALLINM. 



HABITS. 



Audubon appears to be the only ornithologist who has ever met with this singular 

 Dove on the Florida Keys and he never procured a specimen but merely saw a pair early 

 in May, 1832; yet he was informed by the inhabitants that they occurred on the Mule 

 Keys, where, however, he failed to find them. I never saw a specimen there nor heard of 

 them and think that they must be very rare now on the Keys, if they occur there at all. 

 Out of the five species of Doves which Audubon found ou the Keys, but two, the White- 

 headed, and Ground, Doves, occur at all commonly. This diminution in the number of 

 these birds, may be due to the persecution to which they are subjected during autumn, for 

 nearly all the species are killed for food, but it is probably largely due to the fact, that the 

 Keys are not as heavily wooded now as formerly, thus they do not present as many availa- 

 ble places of shelter for the birds. It will be observed that I say that Audubon only found 

 five species of this order on the Keys, for he evidently never saw the Carolina Dove there, 

 for when speaking of the Zenaida Dove, he says, "The cooing of this species so much re- 

 sembles that of the Carolina Dove, that, were it not rather soft, and heard in a part of the 

 world where the latter is never seen, you might easily take it for the notes of that bird." 

 This is worthy of notice, for the Carolina Doves are now common on all the Keys, ,ind 

 when taken in connection with the fact, that they prefer more open country than is inhab- 

 ited by the other Doves which I have described, tends to show that they have extended 

 their range to these islands since the time of Audubon's visit. 



OKDERXII. GALLINAE. G1JOUSE, ETC. 



Posterior margin of sternum, much rounded. Inner marginal indentations, deeper thai 

 outer and very wide. Furcula, with prominent terminal expansion. Naked space above nos- 

 trils, hard. 



This order embraces many families and the species are distributed throughout the 

 world. These birds are not unlike the Doves and Pigeons but differ from them greatly in 

 many very important characters. The sternum is quite long, exceeding twice its width in 

 length. The marginal indentations are four but the two inner are not inclosed, being wide 

 and deep and occupying m re than one half of the length of the sternum. The keel is high 

 but does not extend the entire length of the sternum. There is quite a prominent inanu- 

 brium. The furcula, although long, is quite weak but has a prominent terminal expansion. 

 Scapula, truncated but not pointed. The oesophagus is dilated into a single crop which is 

 not provided with any special glands, and the young are not fed by regurgitation for they 

 run at birth. The tympaniform membrane is present but there is no semilunar membrane, 

 although there is an os transversale. The proventriculus is remarkably well developed. 

 The stomach is very muscular and is lined with a hard, rugose membrane. The fold of 

 the duodenum is not long and incloses a large double pancreas. The intestines are quite 

 small and long and the coecaare remarkably long. The tail is not only rounded and pointed 

 but is sometimes forked. The eggs are usually more than two in number and the young, 

 when first hatched, are covered with down. 



