432 'The Plover-like Birds 



the Tortolita (Little Turtle Dove) of the South Americans. It is only six and a 

 half inches long, brownish cinereous above, pale vinaceous below, and white on 

 the abdomen and tail, with a bright blue band across the tips of the lesser wing- 

 coverts; its range is from Brazil and Paraguay to Argentina and Chile. Mr. 

 Hudson speaks of it as a familiar, tame species in the Plata district, coming much 

 about houses in pairs or small flocks, and being especially lively in its habits. He 

 says: "It sings a great deal in summer, and even on warm days in winter; but 

 its tones are wanting in the wild pathos which gives a charm to the melody of 

 some of our larger species, the song consisting of a succession of long, rather loud 

 and somewhat monotonous notes, pleasant to hear, like most bird-music, but 

 nothing more." 



Ground Doves. The largest genus of the group is Ch&mepelia, which em- 

 braces about a dozen species and subspecies, two of which reach the United 

 States. Collectively, they are grayish brown or chestnut above and chiefly 

 vinaceous below, with separate metallic spots on the upper wing-coverts, and 

 rounded tails which are shorter than the wings. The Ground Dove (C. passerina) 

 is found in Jamaica, while several more or less well marked subspecies are found 

 in various regions. Thus one subspecies (C. p. terrestris] is the Ground Dove 

 of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and another the Mexican Ground Dove 

 (C. p. pallescens) of Mexico, Central America, and the southwestern border of 

 the United States. The South Atlantic bird breeds abundantly throughout 

 the southern part of its range, and is a very interesting and confiding little bird, 

 frequenting fields and the vicinity of houses and building its nest in orchards 

 and in bushes and vines about habitations or rarely on the ground. It builds 

 a rather substantial nest of twigs, weeds, and moss, and shows much concern in 

 the care of its home. "When one is driven from a nest containing eggs, it will 

 drop to the ground as if shot, and will then flutter around as if wounded, to try 

 to draw the person disturbing it away from the nest, but, whether it^succeeds or 

 not, it will soon fly off." RALPH. Its mournful notes are not unlike those of 

 the Mourning Dove, although Chapman speaks of its "mellow, crooning coos 

 uttered so softly that they float on the air as though born of murmuring winds." 



The Mexican Ground Dove, which differs in its paler coloration, longer wings, 

 and smaller bill, is a similarly confiding bird, coming to the vicinity of human 

 industry and picking up grain and crumbs thrown to it. The remaining species 

 are mostly Central or South American. 



The only other member of the group that we may mention is the Black- 

 winged Dove (Metriopelia mdanoptera) of western South America from Ecuador 

 to Chile. It is about eight inches long, pale brown above and pale vinaceous 

 below, with black wings and tail, relieved with a white band at the bend of the 

 wing. It frequents the high valleys of the Cordilleras at an altitude of from 

 6000 to 12,000 feet and may always be seen in numbers by the traveler over the 

 passes of the Andes. 



Returning again to the Old World, we find, especially in Africa and Australia, 

 the members of the fifth group (Phabina), disposed among a dozen genera and 

 some twenty-five forms. They are birds of large or moderate size, with metallic 



