

Some Colony Birds. 321 



The Speckled Dove. 

 The speckled ground-dove (Cham aepelia passerina) is smaller, being 

 barely six inches in length. It is brown-pink, fading into pink on breast, 

 throat, and head ; and into white on the vent. The feathers of the 

 breast, head, and neck are centred with dull black giving the bird a 

 speckled or scaly appearance. There are spots of purple-black upon the 

 wings in irregular lines ; the under-wings are red, the primaries also are 

 red, edged and tipped with black ; the under-feathers of the tail are also 

 of this colour. There is a rim of minute feathers around the eye in lieu 

 of eye-lashes. The hen is duller and smaller but is otherwise marked the 

 same. 



The bird is common in country districts and my be seen in open 

 places, bustling about in a business-like manner in search of small seeds, 

 and holding its tail at an ascending angle to keep it out of the way. 

 Besides cooing, as all doves do, it has a curious note when alarmed like a 

 tiny bark of a dog, " whuh-whuh-whuh." 



The Tiny Ground-Dove. 

 There is another dove a little smaller still, Chamaepelia minuta or 

 griseola, that is bluish. It is much like the speckled dove but has no 

 speckled breast. The breast is pinkish blue, fading into white on throat 

 and vent. The cheeks also are whitish, the crown of the head, nape, 

 and shoulders bluish ; as also the upper tail coverts. The back and wings 

 are pinkish brown, and on the wings are a few purple jottings. The tail 

 is grey tipped with darker colour ; the under-wings are red ; the primaries 

 are red, but light brown on the outer edges and ends of the feathers. 

 The hen is light brown generally with lighter breast and vent ; the 

 feathers of the back are edged with lighter colour ; the bastard wing is 

 red and there are a few black jottings on the wings. These three species 

 live together peaceably in a cage, feeding and roosting together as if they 

 recognized their near affinity. Their nests may often be found in low 

 trees near human habitations, or even upon the creeper that grows on 

 the wall. They will nest in captivity under favourable conditions. 



The Common Thrush. 

 One may wake up in Demerara and fancy oneself back in England 

 aroused by the familiar notes of a thrush. A few minutes of drowsy 

 attention, however, will be sufficient to dispel the illusion. The song is 

 not so well sustained as that of the home bird ; there are lazy intervals 

 between every few notes, and there is not the same vigour and variety. 

 We have been listening to the song of the common colony thrush (Merula 

 albivenier), a welcome though poor substitute for our own king of song. 



After the kiskadee, no bird is so much in evidence as the thrush. 

 He may be seen on our lawn pulling worms, or flying low from tree to 

 tree uttering a low-toned note of alarm, something like our English 

 black-bird : " What's this ? What, what, what, what's that ? Cher, cher, 

 cher, cher.''' 



