GROUND DOVE. 473 



European Quail. The Ground Dove seldom flies more than a hundred 

 yards at a time, and indeed is extremely attached to the spot which it has 

 selected for the season. You may drive it to the opposite end of a large 

 field, and yet, in a few hours after, it may be found in the place whence 

 you raised it. Although it alights on trees or low bushes, on the 

 branches of which it walks with ease, and on which its nest is most fre- 

 quently placed, the ground is its usual resort. There it runs with faci- 

 lity, keeping its tail considerably elevated, as if to save it from being 

 soiled. It is also fond of alighting on fences, where it is easily observed, 

 and where it may be heard cooing for half an hour at a time. 



These Pigeons are met with in groups of four or five, and it is sel- 

 dom that more than a dozen are seen together. They prefer the thinly 

 grassed sandy portions of cotton fields, pea-patches, and such places. 

 In East Florida they are seen in the villages, and resort to the orange 

 groves about them, where they frequently breed. I have often found 

 them in the inner court of the famous Spanish fort of St Augustine, 

 where I have been surprised to see them rise almost perpendicularly, to 

 reach above the parapets, by which they insured their escape. They are 

 easily caught in traps, and at that place are sold at 65 cents each. They 

 readily become domesticated, and indeed so very gentle are they, that I 

 have seen a pair which, having been caught at the time when their young 

 were quite small, and placed in an aviary, at once covered the little ones, 

 and continued to nourish them until full-grown. They afterwards raised 

 a second brood in the same nest, and shewed great spirit in keeping the 

 Jays and Starlings from their charge. In this aviary, which belonged to 

 Dr Wilson of Charleston, several other species bred, among which were 

 the Carolina Dove, the Cardinal Bird, the Blue Grosbeak, the White- 

 throated Sparrow, the Towhe Bunting, the Common Partridge, and the 

 Wood Duck. The Ground Doves were fed on rice and other small 

 grain. 



The nest of this species is large for the size of the bird, and compact. 

 Its extei'ior is composed of dry twigs, its interior of grasses disposed in 

 a circular form. It is usually placed in low bushes or hedges, or in 

 orange trees in orchards. Early in April the female deposits her two 

 pure white eggs ; and sometimes three, but more generally two broods are 

 reared in a season. The male struts before the female in the manner of 

 the Barbary Ringed Dove. 



A few of these birds remain all the year in the vicinity of Charleston, 



