SENNETT ON BIRDS OF THE RIO GRANDE OF TEXAS. 4^ 



gives description and size of the eggs (1.18 by 0.90) in the Berlandier 

 collection. 



Now these statements apply so exactly to the egg of the White- winged 

 Dove, Blelopelia leucoptera, and are so decidedly at variance with ray ex- 

 perience, that I have no hesitation in saying that undoubtedly Dr. Ber- 

 landier and the Mexican were laboring under a mistake, both having the 

 eggs of Melopelia leucoptera (see my description of this further on), 

 instead of Golumha fiavirostris. The shape of my five eggs of the bird 

 under consideration is oblong-oval, with the greatest diameter in the 

 centre. Some vary slightly, tending sometimes to double-pointed, and 

 again to double rounded. Their color is pure white. They measure 

 l.GO by 1.10, 1.55 by 1.12, 1.60 by 1.08, 1.48 by 1.08, and 1.46 by 1.07, 

 averaging 1.54 by 1.09. 



233— ^— 14.00 X 25.00 x 8.50 x 4.75. Apr. 19, Hidalgo. 



260— 5 —14.60 X 24.50 x 7.90 x 5.00. Apr. 20, Hidalgo. 



323— 5 —14.25 X 23.25 x 7.50 x 5.00. Apr. 30, Hidalgo. 



324— S —14.75 X 25.00 x 7.75 x 5.00. Apr. 30, Hidalgo. 

 408— $ —13.75 X 24.75 x 7.75 x 4.75. May 9, Hidalgo. 

 422— <?— 14.00 X 24.50 x 8.00 x 4.65. May 11, Hidalgo. 



Zenjedura carolinensis, {L.) Bp. — Carolina Dove. 



This bird was most abundant of all the Pigeons wherever we went. 

 At Galveston and Corpus Ohristi, on the way down, and at Brownsville, 

 up to about April 10th, they were in flocks. When I reached Hidalgo, 

 April 17th, they were mating, and they filled the air with the sound of 

 their cooing. On April 25th, I found the first two eggs, and soon there- 

 after they became abundant. By the first of May, we came upon their 

 nests in all sorts of places and at all heiglits, within from two to eight 

 feet from the ground, but never on the ground. Their construction was 

 usually a small, simple platform of twigs, with the slightest depression. 

 Frequently they were made of bleached grasses alone. It was a very 

 pretty sight to see one of these nests of yellow grass, with its isnow- 

 white eggs. This bird is at all times very tame, and when sitting on its 

 eggs will often allow one to come within two feet of it to observe it. Of 

 some fifty eggs, the average is 1.10 by 0.82. 



. 25— 5 —12.25 X 18 25 X 5.75 x 5.50. Mar. 8, Corpus Christi. 



308— 5 —11.25 X 17.00 x 5.40 x 4.90. Apr. 30, Hidalgo. 



309— ^ —12.00 X 18.00 x 5.75 x 5.50. Apr. 30, Hidalgo. 

 370— J* —12.00 X 18.25 x 5.65-x 5.50. May 5, Hidalgo. 



Melopelia leucoptera, {L.) Bp. — White-winged Dove. 



In all wooded districts on the Eio Grande above Brownsville, this Dove 

 is abundant. In the immediate vicinity of Brownsville I did not meet 

 with it ; but I had not gone far up the river by boat before I saw it in 

 company with others about the banks and shores of the river. Whether 

 at rest or on the wing, it is a handsome bird, showing almost as far as 

 you can see it the characteristic wing-patch which gives it name. These 

 birds are very affectionate and attentive toward each other, and their 

 soft, sweet cooing is pleasant to hear. They are not under foot as much 



