34 
Breeding of the Red Ground Dove. 
Breeding of the Red Ground Dove. 
{Gcotryyon montana). 
By R. Suggitt. 
The Red Ground Dove, known as the Mountain Part- 
ridge in Jamaica, is occasionally imported alive to Great 
Britain, but at very irregular intervals, and ia such small 
numberrj that it cannot be at all well known to the avi,- 
culturists of this country. I therefore quote Go3se's descrip- 
tion, and some of his account of the wild life of the species. 
Male: " Uj^per parts bright chestnut, more or less flushed 
" with a purple iridescence, chiefly on neck and back. Breast 
"pale purplish -brown, softened to white on throat and chin; a 
"'band of deep chestnut turns forward from the ear to the throat. 
"Belly and under tail-coverts, buff-white; irides, golden yellow; 
" feet, flesh coloured; front of tarsi, bright red; beak, reddish 
"horn coloui'; base dark I'ed; naked skin of face, blue; red in 
"centre; edge of eyelids, scarlet. 
Female: " Upper parts, dark olive glossed, a few (some- 
" times neai'ly all) of the feathers tipped with bay; head rather 
"browner; wing quills blackish; tail, blackish; outmost feathers 
" tijiped with white, a broad spot of chestnut on the inner web; 
"throat whitishl; breast and sides dusky; under part4S reddish- 
" White. 
" This bird, the female of which is tlie least beautiful of 
" all our Doves, is geueiaily scattered. It affects a well-wooded 
" country, and is found in such woods as are more chokied, with" 
" bushes than such as the Wiiite Belly (L&ptoptila janmicensis) 
"prefers; though they often dwell tog^ether. It is essentially a 
" Ground Pigeon, walking in couples or singly, seeking for seeds 
" or gravel on the eai'th. It is often seen beneath a pimento 
"picking up the fallen berries; the physic-nut also, and other 
" oily seeds afford it sustenance. Sam once observed a pair 
" of these Doves eating the large seed of a mango, that had 
" been crushed. With seeds, I have occasionally found small 
" slugls, a species of }'a]ijinulus, common in damp places, in its 
" g<izzard. Often when riding through the Ootta-Vood, a dense 
" and tangled coppice near Content, I have been startled by 
" the loud whirrings of one of these birds, and at the same instant 
" its short, thick -set form U'iS shoit across on rapid wings, con- 
" spicuous for a moment from its bright plumage, but instantly 
" lost in the surrounding bushes. When on the ground it is wary 
" anu difTicult of approach; but if it takes a tree, it seems less 
" fearful, and will allow the aim of the sportsman. It is in the 
" dry season, and pai'ticularly during the parching norths that 
" prevail at intervals from November to March, that the Part- 
" ridgie^ as well as one or two otlier species of Dove is numerous 
