174 BLUEFIELDS. 



estates that we most abundantly hear tlie melody of 

 singing-birds, so here do the plaintive voices of the 

 Doves fall most frequently upon the ear. The White- 

 wing {Turturleucoptenis) and the Pea-dove {Zenaida 

 amahilis) are essentially lowland birds; and these, 

 with the exception of the Whitebelly, are the most 

 incessant, and the most tender of all our cooers. 

 Not, however, that we hear their voices immediately 

 around the homestead ; when they come into the 

 open pastures to feed, they are usually wary and 

 silent; but from the surrounding woods, the tall 

 thick trees of the pens, and especially the impene- 

 trable mangrove-morasses, their loud, but sweetly 

 gentle, moanings fall with a mournfully pleasing 

 cadence upon the ear. The Pea-dove's voice is the 

 more tender, and is particularly prominent in the 

 evening, while the blustering sea-breeze gradually 

 lulls itself to repose ; the longer, sharper and more 

 impatient call of the Whitewing is most heard in the 

 morning, though each season brings the notes of both 

 birds, from all parts of the woods around. They are 

 respectively characteristic of the quietude of the late 

 and early hours. 



" Nee tamen interea raucas . . . palumbes, 

 Nee gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab ulmo." 



ViRG. Ed. i. 58, 



None but those who have listened to these gentle 

 voices can tell what an effect they produce upon the 

 mind. Their tender melancholy communicates itself 

 to the hearer ; and though reason tells him that 

 they are the expressions of buoyant joy and health 



