COLUMBIDjE — ZENAIBINJE : GROUND DOVES. 569 



545. Z. ama'bilis. (Lat. amabilis, lovely.) Zenaida Dove. Olive-gray with a reddish tinge ; 

 crown and under parts vinaccous-red ; sides aud axillars bluish ; a velvety-black auricular 

 spot, and others on the wing-coverts and tertiaries ; secondaries tipped with white ; neck with 

 metallic lustre; middle tail-feathers like the back, others bhiisli with whiter tips, a black hand 

 intervening; bill black with crimson corners of the mouth ; iris brown ; feet rod; claws blacli. 

 Length about 10.00 ; wing 6.00 ; tail 4.00. West Indies and Florida Keys. 



197. MELOPELI'A. (Gr. fiiXos, melos, melody ; -niXeia. peleia, a. dove.) WlllTE-wiNG Do\'E,s. 

 Tail rounded, shorter than wing, of 12 broad, rounded feathers. Wings pointed; 1st, 2d, and 3d 

 primaries nearly equal and longest. Bill slender and lengthened, equalhng tarsus, black. A 

 large bare circumorbital space. A blue-black spot below auriculars, but none on wings ; m.-ck 

 with metallic lustre. A great white space on wing. Feet as in other Zenaiditice. Sexes alike. 



546. M. leuco'ptera. (Gr. Xfu/cor, Jeiieos, white; nrepov, pteron, wing.) WlllTE-wiNG Dove. 

 Wing with a broad white bar oblifiue from the carpal joint to the ends of the longest coverts, 

 continued by white edging at and near ends of outer webs of the secondaries ; very conspicuous, 

 recognizable at gun-shot range. Lower back and rump, some of the middle coverts, lining (jf 

 wings, and entire under parts from the breast, line light bluish-ash. Primaries blackish ^vith 

 narrow white edging. Tail, excepting two middle feathers, slaty-blue, becoming gradually 

 slaty-black, then broadly and squarely tipped with ashy-white. General color of back, lesser 

 wing-coverts, inner quills, and middle tail-feathers, olive-brown with some lusti'e ; the tail- 

 feathers browner; the top of head and back of neck purplish-vinous with a shght glaucous 

 shade; sides of neck iridescent with golden-green; a violet or steel-blue spot below auriculars. 

 Bill black, very slender. Length 11.25-13.25; extent 19.00-20.00; wing 6.00-6.50; tail 

 4.00-4.50; bUl 0.S7; tarsus 0.S7 ; middle toe and claw 1.25. ? scarcely distinguishable. 

 In the youngest, the white wing-bar appears, though there is little or no purplish, f)r iri- 

 descence, or blue-black below ears. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and S. Gala, and southward, 

 abundant in suitable localities. In the breeding 'season, Apr.-May, the sonorous cooing is 

 incessant. Nest in bushes and low trees, slight and frail, of sticks and weeds ; eggs 2, white 

 or freaimj, averaging 1.18X0.88. 



1 98. CUAMiEPELI'A. (Gr. x^l^'^'; ehamai, on the ground ; Tre'Aem, ^je/e/rt, a dove.) DwARP Doves. 

 A'i'ry small. Wings short and broad, with elongated inner secondaries, nearly overreaching 

 priiiiaries in the folded wing. Tail still shorter than wing, nearly even, of 12 broad feather?~. 

 FjIU slender, about half as long as head, mostly yellow. Feet largely zenaidine ; tarsus as 

 long as middle toe without claw. No iridescence nor blue-black spot on head; such .spots on 

 wings. Sexes unlike, but Arcades amho. 



547. C. passeri'na. (Lat. passerina, sparrow-like ; from the pygmy stature.) Ground Dove. 

 Grayish-olive, glossed with blue on the hind head and neck, most feathers of the fore-part,s 

 with darker edges, those of the breast with dusky centres. Forehead, sides of head and neck, 

 lesser wing-coverts and under parts purplish-red of variable intensity, paler or grayish on the 

 belly and crissurn ; under surface of wings orange-brown or chestnut, this color suffusing the 

 quills to a great extent ; upper surfiice of wings sprinkled with lustrous steel-blue spots. Middle 

 tail-feathers like the back, others plumbeous, blackening toward ends, with paler tips. Feet 

 yellow; bill yellow with dark tip. Diminutive: length 6.50-7.00; extent 10.00-11.00; wing 

 3.50, with inner secondaries nearly as long as the primaries; tail 2.75, rounded; bill 0.45; 

 tarsus 0.67; middle toe and claw 0.75. ? and young differ as th(jsc of the wild pigeon and 

 Carolina dove do, the purplish tints being replaced by gray or " ashes of roses," the very young 

 bird having whitish skirting of the feathers. Southern LT. S., Atlantic to Pacific, but chiefly 

 coast-svise ; N. to the Carolinas, and accidentally to Washington, D. C. ; common. Nest on 

 the ground or in bushes indifferently; eggs 2, white, 0.87X0.6.3. 



548. C. p. paUes'cens? (Lat. 2)a?tece«s, bleaching.) Scarcely different ; described as paler. Cape 

 St. Lucas. 



