WHITE-HEADED DOYE. 
319 
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, 14i, 231. 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 hexa- 
gonal 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 situate on the outer web, towards the end ; tho 
