THE GROUND DOVE. 
COLUMBA PASSERINA, Linn. 
PLATE CCLXXXIII. — Males, Female, and Young. 
If the different species of Pigeons and Doves which I have described, have 
interested you sufficiently to render you desirous of holding further converse 
with that interesting family, and of examining for yourself, which I sincerely 
wish you would resolve to do, you may perhaps visit the islands, which, 
like so many bastions, protect the shores of South Carolina, Georgia, and 
the Floridas, those spots where, in the calm of every spring morn, the air is 
rendered balmy by the effluvia of thousands of flowers, each of which rivals 
its neighbour in the brilliancy of its hues. Stop there, kind reader, and 
seat yourself beneath the broadly extended arms of the thickly-leaved ever- 
green oak, and at that joyous moment when the first beams of the sun reach 
your eye, see the Owl passing low and swiftly over the ground, in haste to 
reach his diurnal retreat before the increasing light renders all things dim to 
his sight ; observe the leathern-winged Bat, pursuing his undulating course 
through the dewy air, now deflecting downwards to seize the retiring 
nocturnal insect, now upwards to pursue another species, as it rises to meet 
the genial warmth emitted by the orb of day. Listen, — for at such a 
moment your soul will be touched by sounds, — to the soft, the mellow, the 
melting accents, which one might suppose inspired by Nature’s self, and 
which she has taught the Ground Dove to employ in conveying the expres- 
sion of his love to his mate, who is listening to them with delight. 
Before I proceed to describe the habits of this interesting bird, allow me 
to present you with the result of my observations relative to the geographical 
distribution of the birds of the genus Columba, which are either resident in 
the United States or visit them annually. 
The Passenger Pigeon ranges over the whole of the United States, 
excepting perhaps the southernmost portions of the Floridas, and extends 
to Newfoundland, where it is well known. 
The Carolina Dove ranges from Louisiana to the middle parts of the 
State of Massachusetts, bu is never seen in Maine. It reaches up the 
Mississippi as far as Frairie du Chien, and in that direction extends to the 
borders of Upper Canada. 
The Ground Dove is met with from the lower parts of Louisiana to Cape 
