^^i7H NORTH AMERICAN- UIItDS. 



Air. (}.('. Taylor (Ibis, ISCO) found tl.is l.ir.l al.uiulant in Central America 

 especially on the I'acilie eoa.st an.l in ti.e environs of (,'oniavagua. He adds 

 tliat lie found tliis species most plentiful in the vicinity of houses and corn- 

 fields, whde the Z. mrulinvHsis seem t.) ].refer the woods and open j.lains. 

 lioth were easdy shot, and we're found to be excellent eating. 



Mr. l)res,ser fouiul this species very common near Matanumis and I'.rowns- 

 ville, and as tar into the interior of Te.xas as Sal Colorado, after which it 

 becomes rare, and he never saw any farther east or north than the IJio Nueces 

 It IS not uncomnKm at Eagle I'ass, when; he saw many in cages in the huK> 

 ol the Mexican.s. Their stomachs were found tu contain mai/e and cater- 

 pillars. 



Air. Xantus, in his notes upon the birds of Cape St. Lucas, mentions find- 

 ing several of the nests and eggs of this Dove. All the nests mentioned 

 contained two eggs. One was in the fork of a leafless tree, about ten feet 

 from the ground ; another was about six feet high and placed on a small 

 d«arf-oak ; and a third, found :\ray 20. was in a thorn-bush, about ten feet 

 iroin the ground. Tn one instance a single egg, alrea.ly incubated, was found 

 on the top of a large cactus trunk, but without any indication of a nest. 



Tiic eggs of this species are oval in shape, white, of e^nal size at eitliex- 

 end, and measure l.;}5 inches by .'J2. 



Gexus ZENAIDA, Boxap. 



Zmaida, Bonai-aiite, Goog. & Comi.. List, 1838. (Type, CoUmba zennida, Bp.) 



Gen. Char. Bill blnck; the culmon nlmut two fiftlis tlio rest of the liomi. Tftrsi a 

 littlo siioi-tor tlian the iiii.ldln toe mid claw, Init considerably longer than the lateral toes. 

 Tarsus with broad sciitellie anteriorly, tliose on tlie lower half bifid, makin<? two hexa-'o- 

 nal .series. Inner lateral to<- a little the longer. Hind toe and claw as long as the inner 

 lateral -vitliont claw. AVings lengthened ; second and third qnills longest. Tail .short, 

 about two fifths the wings, loinuled or a littlo graduated. Orbits feathered, especially 

 antei-ior to the eye ; the lids bare. 



But one species of this genus belongs to our fauna, and this is probably 

 but an occasional visitor. 



