154 LIFE HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



"Its rather doleful call note resembles the syllables <hu-up.' The nest, 

 consisting of a slight platform of sticks, is usually placed en the top crown 

 of certain parasitic creepers, found in the more open but shady primitive 

 forests. The eggs are two in number, of a pale ochre yellow color, and 

 measure 31.5 by 24 millimetres. I found nests between the months of Feb- 

 ruary and July." 



Dr. Juan Vilar6, of the University of Habana, writes me: "The Key West 

 Quail-Dove is quite common and a constant resident on the Island of Cuba. 

 Its food consists of fruits, seeds, small snails, etc. It walks with neck con- 

 tracted and the tail slightly raised. It perches on trees. It is commonly 

 called Boyero (Ox Driver), on account of the resemblance of its call to the 

 signal to stop, 'huup,' given by drivers to their oxen. Barbequejo (a kind of 

 bridle) is another of its names, on account o£ the white stripe extending 

 from the anteroinferior region of the eye almost, to the occiput, and resem- 

 bling the ornamental part of a bridle. In the central and eastern parts of 

 the island it is called 'Torito' (Little Bull), its call notes sometimes resembling 

 a roaring. The nest is placed in high trees as a rule, usually Curujeyes. It 

 commences breeding in February and lays until July. The eggs are two 

 in number, ochraceous white in color, and measure 31 by 24 millimetres." 



Mr. J. W. Atkins, of Key West, informs me, under date of December 29, 

 1889: "I have taken but a single Key West Quail-Dove; I have seen sev- 

 eral others, but have been unable to find their nests and eggs; and you may 

 infer the rarity of this species here, when I tell you that many local sports- 

 men to whom I have showed the bird I killed had never seen one or knew 

 that it occurred here." 



There are no eggs of this species in the U. S. National Museum collection, 

 and I have been unable to secure a specimen to figure. 



55. Geotrygon montana (Linn^us). 



RUDDY QUAIL-DOVE. 



Columba montana Linn^us, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, 1, 1758, 163. 

 Geotrygon montana Bonaparte, Conspectus Avium, 1, 1850, 72. 



(B— , C — , R — , C — , U 322.1.) 



Geographical range: Tropical America in general (including the West Indies); 

 north to Cuba, and eastern Mexico (Mirador) ; accidental at Key West, Florida. 



The Ruddy Quail-Dove is entitled to a place in our avifauna, a single 

 specimen having been taken at Key West, December 10, 1888 (Auk, vi, 

 April, 1889, 160, 161, and July, 1889, 246). It is very doubtful if it breeds 

 within our limits. 



Dr. Jean Gundlach, in his "Neue Beitrage zur Ornithologie Cuba's," says: 

 "The habits of this species are similar to those of G. martinica. It is not found 

 on the cayos or small islands of the coast of Florida, but probably extends to 

 the South American mainland. Nidifi cation and the color of the eggs are the 

 same as with those of the preceding species, G. martinica, only the latter are a 



