PASSERINE GROUND DOVE. 63 
Length.—Rather over 6 inches. 
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. 
Short legged, 
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 they catch a bird, which they 
-do not kill, they 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 tiny 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 nesis 
were 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 
have 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 53% inches. 
Gosse noted that when running the Passerine 
usually erects the tail, and can run very swiftly 
over the ground. He tells us they eat grass seeds, 
the seeds of the castor-oil plant, and particularly 
those of the gamboge thistle. A method 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 
