PASSERINE GROUND DOVE. 



63 



Length. — Rather over 6 inches. Short legged, 

 but well proportioned. 



Colouring. — The general colour is pinkish 

 vinous, with the crown and nape bluish grey, the 

 edges of the feathers being dark, as also are those 

 at the sides of the neck. The upper wing coverts 

 are vinous, and the long wing quills cinnamon, the 

 •outer edges and tips being dull brown; the wing 

 is blotched with steel-blue shading into violet. The 

 back is olive brown, the feathers of the throat and 

 front of breast are pinkish with dusky centres. 

 The feet pale flesh-colour, the bill yellow (or 

 orange) with a dusky tip, the iris red. This dove, 

 being found in so many countries, varies much ; 

 the Jamaican and Socorro Islands seem to possess 

 the brightest coloured specimens. 



WILD LIFE. 



The Passerine dove is found in great numbers 

 in Jamaica. Mr. Sutcliffe tells us how "when 

 passing along the road one can put them up by 

 ■scores. They fly very fast and straight, but not 

 to a great distance, and soon alight again, either 

 on a tree or the ground." He also speaks of the 

 great cruelty practised by the blacks when catching 

 birds. "Directly the}' catch a bird, -which they 

 -do not kill, thev pull out the wing and tail feathers 

 and break their legs to prevent escape (they 

 brought many to me in this state)." He at once 

 ■stopped them catching on his behalf on learning 

 this. A gentleman I know in Jamaica tells me 

 that the natives catch some of the pigeons in what 

 they call a "caliban," which is a kind of rustic 

 basket made of twigs. It is fixed to drop over 

 the head of a bird which may release it by running 

 across a thread. 



Mr. Goodfellow, in his notes on the bird life in 

 Ecquador, tells us that he found the Passerine dove 

 in great numbers in the valley of Chillo. Acacias 

 and aloes grow there, but it is dry and sandy, and 

 ■many times has been devastated by eruptions from 

 Cotopaxi. The tinv doves may be seen running 

 along the dusty roads and might be snared in great 

 quantities ; their nests were built on the branches 

 -of the acacia trees, and one nest was also found 

 on the giant flower stalks of an aloe ; the sitting 

 bird could be seen from below. The other nests 

 w^ere built of the thin dry seed-pods of the acacia 

 trees, a little dry grass and a few twigs. The 

 Passerine doves found in this district appear to 

 Tiave been a bright coloured variety, for the male 

 Is described as delicate fawnish pink, the hen not 

 so bright ; when in flight the wings appeared 

 wholly red. Mr. Goodfellow adds he met this dove 

 "in many parts of Columbia, but always in the 

 higher mountains." He gives the bird's length 

 as only 5J inches. 



Gosse noted that when running the Passerine 

 usually erects the tail, and can run very swiftly 

 over the ground. He tells us thej' eat grass seeds, 

 the seeds of the castor-oil plant, and particularly 

 those of the gamboge thistle. A methcxi of catch- 

 ing them by the natives was by strewing the 

 ground, near the doves' watering-place, with the 

 seeds of. the cockspur, which is so adhesive that if 

 one burr touch a feather it cannot be removed 

 except by pulling the feather out. The poor little 

 doves in their struggles only entangled other 

 feathers and were easily caught. Another way 

 was to catch them in springes made of horsehair, 

 though this often ended fatally. 



I have kept many specimens of this little dove, 

 though some only for a short time. My first two 

 pairs were bought in 1899, one pair costing me 

 21/-, and the second, bought from another dealer 

 just afterwards, only 10/6. These four birds were 

 fond of roosting all together, three in a row, the 

 fourth on the backs of the others. Two years 

 after, in 1901, a large importation arrived in Eng- 

 land and were sold under a wrong name, some 

 being sent to me as Bronze Spotted doves. 



In two or three private importations of doves I 

 have had from Jamaica there have generally been 

 a number of these tiny doves, and very well indeed 

 they have travelled; but to land them uninjured 

 it is necessary to clip their wings first. The late 

 Mr. Cresswell tells us how over and over again 

 cages of them have been shipped to England and 

 none arrived alive, for they would batter them- 

 selves to pieces, some even doing so before they 

 could be shipped. 



The colouring of the Passerine is the most varied 

 of any dove I know. Some specimens I have had 

 being almost pink with a soft grey bloom on them ; 

 one bird was so dark as to be almost black (and 

 a very handsome bird he was) ; others again were 

 chocolate-brown ; but in every variation of shade 

 the feathers are all tipped with dark edges, giving 

 almost a scaled appearance. Every writer seems 

 to agree as to the wildness of this little dove at 

 first (and this has been my own experience), but 

 after a time they settle down, and mine grew quite 

 indifferent even to strangers. 



To Mr. Willford belongs the honour of first 

 breeding the Passerine dove in England, though 

 Dr. Russ bred them some years ago in Germany. 

 My own birds nearly bred once in 1902. They 

 made a very pretty nest of hay (rounded and more 

 like a real nest, not like the loose mass of material 

 that generally constitutes a dove's idea of building) 

 on the top of a wooden bracket in a very exposed 

 place in the aviary. One beautiful egg was laid, 

 and the Passerines, filled with importance, began 

 to sit, and sat so well that the egg began soon to 



