344 
GALLING. 
HABITS. 
Audubon appears to be the only ornithologist who has ever met with this singular 
Dove on the Florida Keys and he never procured a specimen but merely saw a pair early 
in May, 1832; yet he was informed by the inhabitants that they, occurred on the Mule 
Keys, where, however, he failed to find them. I never saw a specimen there nor heard of 
them and think that they must be very rare now on the Keys, if they occur there at all. 
Out of the five species of Doves which Audubon found on the Keys, but two, the White- 
headed, and Ground, Doves, occur at all commonly. This diminution in the number of 
these birds, may he due to the persecution to which they are subjected during autumn, for 
nearly all the species are killed for food, hut it is probably largely due to the fact, that the 
Keys are not as heavily wooded now as formerly, thus they do not present as many availa¬ 
ble places of shelter for the birds. It will be observed that I say that Audubon only found 
five species of this order on the Keys, for he evidently never saw the Carolina Dove there, 
for when speaking of the Zenaida Dove, he says, “The cooing of this species so much re¬ 
sembles that of the Carolina Dove, that,- were it not rather soft, and heard in a part of the 
world where the latter is never seen, you might easily take it for the notes of that bird.” 
This is worthy of notice, for the Carolina Doves are now common on all the Keys, and 
when taken in connection with the fact, that they prefer more open country than is inhab¬ 
ited by the other Doves which I have described, tends to show that they have extended 
their range to these islands since the time of Audubon’s visit. 
ORDER XII. GALLINAE. GROUSE. ETC. 
Posterior margin of sternum , much rounded. Inner marginal indentations , deeper thai 
outer and very wide. Furcula , with prominent terminal expansion. Naked space above nos¬ 
trils , hard.. 
This order embraces many families and tin; species are distributed throughout the 
world. These birds are not unlike the Doves and Pigeons but differ from them greatly in 
many very important characters.- The sternum is quite long, exceeding twice its width in 
length. The marginal indentations are four but the two inner are not inclosed, being wide 
and deep and occupying m re than one half of the length of the sternum. The keel is high 
but does not extend the entire length of the sternum. There is quite a prominent manu¬ 
brium. The furcula, although long, is quite weak but has a prominent terminal expansion. 
Scapula, truncated but not pointed. The oesophagus is dilated into a single crop which is 
not provided with any special glands, and the young are not fed by regurgitation for they 
run at birth. The tympaniform membrane is present but there is no semilunar membrane, 
although there is an os transversale. The proventriculus is remarkably well developed. 
The stomach is very muscular and is lined with a hard, rugose membrane. The fold of 
the duodenum is not long and incloses a large double pancreas. The intestines are quite 
small and long and the coeca are remarkably long. The tail is not only rounded and pointed 
but is sometimes forked. The eggs are usually more than two in number and the young, 
when first hatched, are covered with down. 
