r 



THE GROUND DOVE. l49 



drop to the ground as if shot, and will then flutter around as if wounded, to 

 try to draw the person disturbing it away from the nest, but, whether it suc- 

 ceeds or not, it will soon fly off". When a nest contains young, however, the 

 bird will become almost frantic with anxiety, and will tumble around until it 

 appears to be nearly exhausted. I have often refrained from taking nests that 

 I have wanted, on account of the evident distress of the parent birds. 



"These Doves seem to dislike being alone, and go about in small flocks 

 even during the breeding season. They are constant residents of Florida, and 

 ten or fifteen years ago I found them abundant tln-oughout the northern and 

 central parts of the State. In the locality where these notes were taken they 

 are still common, though fast decreasing in numbers, owing principally to the 

 causes that are fast exterminating most Florida birds, viz, plume hunters and 

 tourists. 



"Their notes are very much like those of the Mourning Dove, and during 

 the mating and breeding seasons, tliey will frequently sit for an hour or more 

 at a time on the roof of some building, or in a tree, uttering their mournful 

 calls. For birds so small they make a great deal of noise when they fly, but 

 their wings do not produce a whistling sound like those of the Mourning Dove. 

 Their food consists of seeds, grain, etc., and where they can get them, they 

 will eat green pease." 



Mr. T. D. Perry, of Savannah, Georgia, states: "The breeding season of 

 the Ground Dove covers a long period, commencing, as it does, early in April 

 and continuing through June and sometimes July. I have found their nests as 

 early as April 9, with eggs slightly incubated, and as late as July 9, with fresh 

 eggs. The nest is a very slight affair, consisting of a few twigs and pine 

 needles, and very often grass and pine needles. The birds seem to have no 

 regular place for their location. In one instance I found a nest on the ground, 

 and in another case one on a stump. Generally, however, it is located in vines, 

 or in a pine sapling or a myrtle bush. The height from the ground varies 

 from 2 to 6 feet in most instances, though I once found a nest that was 10 feet 

 up, and another that was 20 feet from the ground. They seeixi to prefer the 

 pine lands, where the undergrowth of young saplings make the woods dense, 

 and here their nests are generally found." ^ 



Since Mr. Perry wrote the above he informs me that sets of eggs of this 

 species have been found near Savannah, Georgia, as early as March 13 and 17, 

 and Mr. Arthur T. Wayne records taking a set of eggs of the Ground Dove 

 near Charleston, South Carolina, containing small embryos, on October 19, 

 1886, securing the male while incubating.^ 



Incubation is said to last two weeks, both parents assisting. Two broods, 

 occasionally three, and, in exceptional cases, even four are raised in a season. 



The eggs of the Ground Dove are usually two in number, pure white in 

 color, and most commonly elliptical oval in shape; a few are oval, and some 

 elliptical ovate (slightly pointed at one end). 



» Oruithologist and Oologist, Vol. xii, 1887, p. 102. ^ Ibid., p. 7. 



