158 
COLUMBA LEUCOCEPHALA. 
39. COLUMBA LEUCOCEPHALA, LIN. —-WHITE-CROWNED 
BONAPAKTE, PLATE XVII. FIG. I. — EIUXBURGH COLLEGE ><t : 
St"’ 
BJjI 
This bird has been already alluded to in the fT&.j 
article, when pointing out the difference between b ^ 
the new Columba fasciata of Say. We were th 6**^ 
from supposing that we should so soon have to 
its historian ; but having ascertained that it ini' 9 ? ^ 
Florida, as well as the West Indies, we are enabb’ 1 
give it a place in these pages. . p 
The white-crowned pigeon, well known as an J 
bitant of Mexico and the West Indies, is likewise ft j 
in great numbers on some of the Florida keys, 5 ' ji 
as Key Vacas and others, early in spring, wh ,,r j]f 
feeds almost exclusively on a kind of wild fruit, n^fji 
called beach plum, and some few berries of a specif’ ,( 
palmetto, that appears to be peculiar to those keys. ’ ,i 
are also extensively spread in Jamaica and St Doff"!^, 
and are very abundant in the island of Porto ™ .(• 
frequenting deep woods, and breeding on rocks, " 
they are called by some rock pigeons. They art' ^ 
numerous on all the Bahama Islands, and fort® jj. 
important article of food with the inhabitants, P?; f - 
cularly when young, being then taken in great quant". | } 
from the rocks where they breed. On the 
keys also they breed in large societies, and the r 
are much sought after by the wreckers. They ( "(A 
feed principally on berries, and especially on those 0 
tree called swectwood. When the fruit of this is 
they become fat and well flavoured, but other & 
again make their flesh very bitter. jf 
Buffon, in accordance with his whimsical i^’.'V,,- 
referring foreign species to those of Europe, covS l ( i(h ' 
the present as a variety of the biset ( Columba ‘l.fi 
Briss.) To that bird it is in fact allied, both in ' nl 
and plumage; and has, moreover, the same J>ab> y 
breeding in holes and crevices of rocks; but it is,*" 
same time, entirely distinct. 
