426 'The Plover-like Birds 



that the whole presented the appearance of a rolling cylinder having a diameter 

 of about fifty yards, its interior filled with flying leaves and grass. The noise 

 was deafening and the sight confusing to the mind." 



The Ground Pigeons. While the members of the preceding groups spend 

 the main portion of their lives in trees, those of the present group are so con- 

 fined to a terrestrial life that they are appropriately denominated Ground 

 Pigeons. Structurally they are distinguished by having the tarsus equal to 

 or even longer than the middle toe, while the number of tail-feathers varies 

 from twelve to twenty. They constitute a large, widely distributed group 

 of over forty genera and about two hundred species which, according to 

 Salvador!, may be disposed among seven more or less well marked minor 

 groups. 



Mourning Doves. The first of these minor groups (Zenaiditus), embracing 

 four genera and about sixteen forms, comprises the Mourning Doves, so called 

 from their peculiarly sad and mournful notes. They are all natives of the New 

 World, being most abundant in Central and South America. Collectively they 

 are distinguished from the other groups by the presence of a blackish more or 

 less metallic spot beneath the ear-coverts. In the typical genus (Zenaidura) 

 the tail of fourteen feathers is long and graduated, the upper parts plain brownish 

 with the scapulars and wing-coverts black-spotted, while the lower parts are 

 purplish vinaceous or cinnamon. 



The best-known species is the true Mourning Dove (Z. macroura), which is 

 spread over the whole of temperate North America, from Canada and British 

 Columbia south to Panama and the West Indies. It is from eleven to thirteen 

 inches long, the male being olive grayish brown above, the crown bluish gray 

 with a glaucous "bloom," while the sides of the neck are glossed with changeable 

 metallic purple, and the under parts are vinaceous, becoming creamy buff on 

 the lower abdomen and under tail-coverts. The female is slightly smaller, 

 generally paler, and is not purplish below. 



The Mourning Dove, although not a rare bird in the Eastern States, is perhaps 

 most frequently observed in pairs, whereas in the more arid portions of the West 

 it is usually found in parties of from a dozen to fifty or more, and in the north- 

 western portion of New Mexico I have observed them in flocks of several hun- 

 dred. They are tame, gentle birds when not much molested, frequently breeding 

 in gardens and shrubbery near dwellings, and often feeding with domestic poul- 

 try. The mating season begins early in March in the southern portions of their 

 range, but later northward, where they are regularly migratory. Their peculiar 

 love notes, well known to most observers, are frequently heard in spring and occa- 

 sionally at other seasons. While difficult to describe, they may be fairly repre- 

 sented by the syllables "coo, coo, coo," with a rising inflection, and ending in a 

 low, mournful "ooo, ooo, ooo" with a falling inflection. It is nevertheless a 

 far penetrating note and may be heard for a distance of half a mile or more. The 

 nest is placed in a great variety of situations, sometimes on the ground or a bare 

 rock without the presence of even a few straws, but usually it is a frail platform 

 of twigs placed on bushes, stumps, or low trees, and not infrequently they take 



