20 THE GROUND DOVE. 



Hatteras, following the coast quite round the Floridas, but very seldom seen 

 at any great distance in the interior. It is unknown in the State of Missis- 

 sippi; and I will venture to add, that one of these birds has never been seen 

 in Kentucky, although some writers have alleged that they occur there. 

 They are more abundant on the sea islands of Georgia, and the middle por- 

 tions of the coast of East Florida, than any where else. A search for them 

 a hundred miles inland would in all probability prove fruitless. 



The White-headed Pigeon is confined to about three hundred miles of 

 the Florida Keys. It seldom, if ever, visits the mainland. It remains with 

 us about seven months of the year. 



The Zenaida Dove seldom reaches farther east, along the Florida Keys, 

 than Cape Light-House. It never visits the Main. Its residence with us 

 is shorter than that of the White-headed Pigeon by a full month. 



The Key West Pigeon has never been met with elsewhere than on the 

 island of that name. It remains there about five months only. 



The same is the case with the Blue-headed Ground Pigeon, commonly 

 called the Cuba Partridge, which is the rarest of all the species known to me 

 that resort to the Floridas. 



In the above account, I have placed the species according to the number 

 of individuals of each that occur in our country, beginning with the Passenger 

 Pigeon, which is the most numerous, and ending with the Blue-headed 

 Pigeon, which is the rarest; and I beg of you, kind reader, to recollect that 

 hear-say has no part as a foundation for the results in this statement. I may 

 also inform you, that curiosity, in part, prompted me to present it, it having 

 been written in 1S32, with the view of seeing if any of these birds shall 

 become more or less numerous, or extend or diminish their range. 



The flight of the Ground Dove is low, easy, and accompanied with a 

 whistling sound, produced by the action of the wings, when the bird is 

 surprised and forced to fly. It is less protracted than that of any other 

 species with which I am acquainted in the United States, with the exception 

 of the Blue-headed Pigeon. The crossing of the Gulf Stream by the latter 

 bird is more surprising than the extended flight of the 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 frequently placed, the ground is its usual resort. 

 There it runs with facility, 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. 



