<"()LrMI!II).K — TIIK 1M( IKONS. 



• > / / 



Meioitflia liitcoptfra. 



City of Mi'xii'o (Sc'i,. I'. Z. S. ISlii, ITS) ; SDUlluMstcni TrXiis, hrcrlin}; (I)i:ks»ki!, IMs, 

 18(10, 24) ; Culm ((ii-nim,. Ucp. I, "8(j(i, ;ii)l) ; Korl \Vl,ip|,lf, Arizona (Corns, I'. A. X. S. 

 18(1(;, !)3); Costa Rica (I.vwit. IX, ll!!)); Yiicalaii (Lawk. IX, 'JOT). 



However roiiiurkiilpli! and fxccptioiial the (listril)uti(iii of tlii.s species may 

 a])|)L'iir in oceniTini.; in ("uIki und .Fuinaicii iind in Mexico, IVoni tius Alliinlic 

 const to ( 'aiic St. l.,iicns, ami nortli 

 to Santa I'Y', Xcw Mexico, we 

 have yet lieeii unaMe to find any 

 tanj,'i1)le diileivnces in .s])ecinien.s 

 from llie.se extreme localities. 

 The Jamaica l)ird lias ratlier a 

 more decided wash ol' iirown on 

 the neck and loreliead, the toes 

 apparently shorter ; l>iit as si)eci- 

 mensironi the same locality vary 

 ill this respect, it is ])rolialile that 

 in a lar<,'e series such diilerences 

 will disajjpear in the average. 



Hahits. This specii-s is t'oiuul on the Lower IJio (Jrande, in Arizona, and, 

 according to Dr. Coojier, in California. It als(j occurs in ]Me.xico, and was 

 taken in Tamaulipas by Lieutenant Couch, March, LSoH. It has also been 

 met with in several nl' the West India Islands and in Central America. 



This species is al»undaut in Jamaica, where, accordiuj;' to Mr. ^Lirch, it is 

 more a lowland than a mountain Dove. They are .said to be grej^'arious, 

 usually keeping in Hocks of from ten to twenty, liut in January and in Feb- 

 ruary, in the Guinea-corn season, and at other times when the Ccni are in 

 fruit, they congregate in large Hocks, olten of several hundreds. Their food 

 is principally grain and seeds, but they are equally fond of the rijie fruit of 

 the ditferent species of Cemia abounding on the savannas and salines dur- 

 ing the summer. Inland, the Wliite-wings, in the same manner as the 

 IJaldpate, breed in .solitary jiairs ; Init in the mangrove swamjjs, and in the 

 islands along the coast, they breed in company, many in the same tree. The 

 nest is a frail platform of sticks, with a slight hollow lined with leaves and 

 bark, and sometimes a few feathers. The eggs arc two, of an oblong-oval .shape, 

 glarisli-white in color, measuring 1.31 inches in length by .94 of an inch in 

 l)readth. Mr. March adds that tlie White-wing is olten \w.\)t in confinement, 

 where it occasionally l)reeds. It is at first quite wild, tlulteriug in alarm at 

 the approach of any person, but afterwards becomes (piite docile if attended 

 with care. It has been known to cross and mate witli the Tartar ri-surias, a 

 bird which has been introduced into .Famaica. Mr. INlarcli had, at the time 

 his paper a])peared, a male White-wing mated with a female liingdovo. 



This si)ecies was found ai Onioa, Ilomluras, by ^Ir. Leyland, and by Mr. 

 Salvia about Diienas, (inateniala, where it was one of the coiumou Doves. 

 It was found on the ground, in the open savannas. 



VOL. HI. 48 



