444 WHITE-HEADED PIGEON. 



return to that left by them, should you pursue them. It is thus a most 

 toilsome task to procure specimens of these birds. 



Their shyness is but partially given up even during their love season, 

 or while sitting on their eggs, for the moment they see you they get off 

 slyly from the nest, walk on the branches for some distance, and take to 

 wing without anv noise, flying low along the edge of the mangroves, into 

 which they throw themselves as soon as a place of safety offers itself, sel- 

 dom on such occasions flying ofi" to other keys. Their return to the nest 

 is not immediate, the heat of these latitudes not requiring the same care 

 in incubation as the comparative cold of more northern regions. I have 

 waited their return sometimes as much as half an hour, without success. 



By the first of May, the young squabs are nearly able to fly, and it 

 is at this period that the greatest havoc is made among them. The fisher- 

 men and the wreckers visit the keys principally resorted to by this spe- 

 cies, rifle all the nests they can find, and sometimes also shoot the old 

 birds. 



The key on which I first saw this bird, lies about twenty-five miles 

 south of Indian Key, and is named Bahia-honda Duck Key. The 

 farther south we proceeded the more we saw, until we reached the 

 low, sandy, sterile keys, called the Tortugas, on none of which did I 

 see a pigeon of any kind. During my visit to the Floridas, our party 

 procured a great number of White-headed Pigeons. They were all either 

 adult, or full -plumed birds, having the upper part of the head pure white, 

 with a deep rich brown edging at the lateral parts of the crown. On our 

 return from the Tortugas to Key West, our vessel anchored close to a 

 small key, in a snug harbour protected from the sea winds by several 

 lono- and narrow islands well known to the navigators of those seas. 

 Captain Day and myself visited this little key, which was not much more 

 than an acre in extent, the same afternoon. No sooner had we landed, 

 than, to our delight, we saw a great number of White-headed Pigeons 

 rise fly round the key several times, and all realight upon it. The Cap- 

 tain posted himself at one end of the key, I at the other, while the sailors 

 walked about to raise the birds. In less than two hours we shot thirty- 

 six of them, mostly on the wing. Their attachment to this islet resulted 

 from their having nests with eggs on it. Along with them we found 

 Grakles, Red-winged Starlings, Flycatchers, and a few Zenaida Doves. 

 Havino- shot most of the Pigeons, examined their nests, collected their 

 eo-gs and written memoranda, we proceeded to other keys in search of 



