( 471 ) 

 THE GROUND DOVE. 



COLUMBA PASSERINA, LiNN. 

 PLATE CLXXXII. Male, Female, and Young, 



If the different species of Pigeons and Doves which I have described, 

 have interested you sufficiently to render you desirous of holding further 

 converse with that interesting family, and of examining for yourself, 

 which I sincerely wish you would resolve to do, you may perhaps visit 

 the islands, which, like so many bastions, protect the shores of South 

 Carolina, Georgia, and the Floridas, those spots where, in the calm of 

 every spring morn, the air is rendered balmy by the effluvia of thousands 

 of flowers, each of which rivals its neighbour in the brilUancy of its hues. 

 Stop there, kind reader, and seat yourself beneath the broadly extended 

 arms of the thickly-leaved evergreen oak, and at that joyous moment 

 when the first beams of the svm reach your eye, see the Owl passing low 

 and swiftly over the ground, in haste to reach his diurnal retreat before 

 the increasing light render all things dim to his sight ; observe the 

 leathern-winged Bat, pursuing his undulating course through the dewy 

 air, now deflecting downwards to seize the retiring nocturnal insect, now 

 upwards to pursue another species, as it rises to meet the genial warmth 

 emitted by the orb of day. Listen, — for at such a moment your soul will 

 be touched by sounds, — to the soft, the mellow, the melting accents, which 

 one might suppose inspired by Nature's self, and which she has taught the 

 Ground Dove to employ in conveying the expression of his love to his 

 mate, who is listening to them with delight. 



Before I proceed to describe the habits of this interesting bird, allow 

 me to present you with the result of my observations relative to the geo- 

 graphical distribution of the birds of the genus Columba, which are either 

 resident in the United States, or visit them annually. 



The Passenger Pigeon ranges over the whole of the United States, 

 excepting perhaps the southernmost portions of the Floridas, and extends 

 to Newfoundland, where it is well known. 



The Carolina Dove ranges from Louisiana to the middle parts of the 

 State of Massachusetts, but is never seen in Maine. It reaches up the 



