128 Bird -Lore 



during different seasons of the year. Thus on February 28 and March 3 I have 

 found nests located on the tops of partially decayed stumps of pine trees, only 

 about 2 feet from the ground. Later in the season I have seen numerous nests 

 placed on the ground, usually in fields of weeds or in standing grain. Fields of 

 oats seem to be especially favored with their presence during midsummer. 

 Late in July, August, and on to the latter part of September, I have found 

 their nests on horizontal limbs of large orange trees, on the level fronds of 

 palms, and on the cross-bars or rails, so commonly used for supports of the 

 widespreading scuppernong grape-vines. 



Wherever placed the nest is composed chiefly of grasses with perhaps a few 

 twigs or rootlets. It must have a support, for it is entirely too frail a structure 

 to withstand the destructive forces of the winds and rains, if placed in the 

 crotch of a bush. Two elliptical-shaped pure white eggs are laid — never more. 



In flight the Ground Dove usually keeps near the ground when flying 

 across open fields, only rising to clear shrubbery, trees, or buildings. Ordi- 

 narily it does not proceed over 100 yards before again alighting. In fact it 

 seems strongly attached to the immediate neighborhood in which it lives. On 

 some occasions, however, I have noticed its flight prolonged to what seemed an 

 unusual extent. For example, during June, 1918, while lying becalmed on the 

 yacht, 'Seafoam,' at Sara Sota, Fla., these birds were very frequently noticed 

 as they passed over the town and out over the bay at least a mile to a neighbor- 

 ing island. To make this journey they had to fly quarteringly across a breeze 

 so strong that no captain of any vessel in the harbor cared to face it. Yet the 

 Ground Doves flew back and forth between the town and the island, appa- 

 rently without hesitation. 



In traveling along the sandy roads through the pine barrens in Florida, it 

 is no uncommon sight to come upon a pair of these little birds dusting them- 

 selves. They scratch out little hollows and lie in them, sometimes on one side, 

 then on another, kicking and fluttering, and causing the warm sand to trickle 

 down through their feathers, much as does a Bob- White in similar surroundings. 



I have spoken of the Ground Dove only as occurring in Florida. It is found 

 also in Georgia and South CaroHna. Over these states its range seems to be 

 confined almost entirely to the immediate vicinity of the coast and outlying 

 islands. Its extreme northern natural limit may be said to be eastern North 

 Carolina. It likewise occurs along the Gulf Coast, but in very limited numbers, 

 ordinarily not beyond New Orleans. 



Further west we meet with the very closely allied species known as the 

 Mexican Ground Dove. The birds are very similar, and practiced indeed 

 must be the eye that can distinguish them. The Mexican Ground Dove is 

 found in the southwestern tier of states and down through Mexico to Central 

 America. 



In speaking of the nesting habits of the Mexican Ground Dove, in Arizona, 

 William L. Finley, writing in Bird-Lore for May-June, 1915, says: 



