WHITE-HEADED DOVE. 3 19 



upright posture, they have a continued movement of the head, with a 

 frequent jerking upwards of the tail. Their flight may be compared to that 

 of the European Cushat, being very swift and noiseless, after a few hard 

 flaps at starting. In captivity they are easily managed, and readily breed. 

 I saw several of them with my friends Dr. Wilson and Rev. John Bach- 

 man of Charleston, South Carolina. 



The White-headed Pigeon does not occur to the westward of the Florida 

 Keys on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico; at least I have seen none in any 

 portion of all that extensive range of country as far as Galveston Island in 

 Texas. The eggs of this species measure one inch and two and a half 

 eighths in length, an inch and half an eighth in breadth; although in more 

 than fifty instances I found two eggs in each nest, the Earl of Derby informs 

 me that in captivity, like Columba migratoria, this Pigeon lays only one. 



I have placed a pair of these Pigeons on a low, flowering tree, which is 

 rather scarce on the Keys. It is in full bloom during the whole year, and 

 its leaves, I thought, correspond with the colour of the birds, while the 

 brilliant hue of its flowers forms a strong contrast. 



Columba leucocephala, Bonap. Syn., p. 119. 



White-headed Pigeon, Columba leucocephala, Bonap. Amer. Orn., vol. ii. p. 15. 

 White-crowned Pigeon, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 625. 



White-headed Pigeon, Columba leucocephala, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 443; vol. v. 

 p. 557. 



Male, 14^, 23\. Female, 14. 



Florida Keys. Common during summer only. 



Adult Male. 



Bill straight, of ordinary length, rather slender, compressed; upper man- 

 dible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, where it is straight in its 

 dorsal outline, convex towards the end, with a sharp-edged, declinate, rather 

 obtuse tip; lower mandible with the sides sloping outwards, the angle near 

 the end, the edges sharp, the tip rounded. Nostrils medial, oblique, linear. 

 Head small and compressed, neck of ordinary length, body full. Feet short, 

 strong; tarsus very short, rounded, with two anterior rows of large hexagonal 

 scales; toes scutellate above, marginate, the hind-toe smallest, the two lateral 

 nearly equal, the middle toe much larger; claws of moderate size, compressed, 

 arched, rather acute. 



Plumage rather compact above, blended beneath, on the hind neck strong, 

 with metallic gloss. Wings long, the third quill longest, the second almost 

 equal, the first not so long as the fourth, the second, third, fourth, and most 

 of the other primaries sinuate on the outer web, towards the end; the 



