Vol. II, Pt. I] GIFFORD— BIRDS OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 7 



Except on Wenman Island, the nests of this dove were in 

 small rocky cavities, usually in sloping ground. Eggs and 

 nests were noted as follows : 



On April 4, near the top of Narborough Island, at an alti- 

 tude of about five thousand feet, Mr. Beck found a nest con- 

 taining one fresh tgg. The nest was in a slight hollow in the 

 crevice of a cliff, and was lined with fern-stems and pieces of 

 grass. 



On Wenman Island on September 24, 1906, two nests with 

 eggs were found — one with two fresh eggs, the other with 

 two that were incubated. The nests were slight depressions 

 in the ground, lined with grass and protected by the broad 

 leaves of cactus (Opuntia Helleri), the plants growing very 

 close to the ground. Mr. Hunter discovered a nest in a like 

 position, and Mr. Beck found one lined with twigs and simi- 

 larly sheltered on the edge of a sea-cliff. When flushed, the 

 owners of the nests fluttered away as though wounded. 



Messrs. Snodgrass and Heller found a nest with one fresh 

 egg on James Island in April, and on Barrington Island they 

 found the doves nesting during the latter part of May.^ 

 Messrs. Rothschild and Hartert make the following state- 

 ment : "Mr. Beck writes : 'Nesopelia was nesting on Bind- 

 loe in the last week of March, and several deserted eggs were 

 found on Daphne.' "^ 



It appears that the breeding-season, taken as a whole 

 throughout the archipelago, extends over seven months, from 

 March to September inclusive. 



On the rough lava of northeastern James Island, and on 

 the steep tufaceous sides of the larger Daphne Island, a great 

 many deserted nests, crudely lined with grass, were noted in 

 little cavities in the rocks, usually sheltered from the weather 

 by overhanging ledges or shelves. 



Young of all ages were seen more or less commonly. On 

 September 19, 1906, Mr. Beck found a partially naked young 

 one, about a week and a half old, in a small cave on the south 

 side of Abingdon Island ; while a young bird, scarcely from the 

 nest, was shot on Wenman Island on September 24, 1906. 

 Mr. Beck found two nests with young on the latter island. 

 One contained a naked nestling and an infertile egg, and the 



iProc. Wash. Acad. Sci., v. 5, p. 263. 



=Nov. Zool., V. 9, p. 411. 



