Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/394

338 low shrub abundant in the Keys where they are found. The flower has a musty scent, and is of short duration.

This species resorts to certain wells, which are said to have been dug by pirates, at a remote period. There the Zenaida Doves and other birds are sure to be seen morning and evening. The loose sand thrown up about these wells suits them well to dust in, and clean their apparel.

CoLUMBA Zenahja, Ch. Bonaparte, Synods, of Birds of the United States, p. 119, and Amer. Ornith. voL ii. pi. 15. fig. 2 Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. (j25.

Adult Male. Plate CLXII. Fig. 1.

Bill short, straight, rather slender, compressed ; upper mandible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, a convex, declinate, obtuse tip, of which the margins are acute and overlapping ; lower mandible, with the angle near the extremity, which is compressed and rounded. Nostrils medial, obhque, linear. Head small and compressed ; the general form rather full. Legs short and of moderate strength ; tarsus short, covered anteriorly with four broad scutella at the upper part, and a double series below, rounded and hexagonally reticulated behind ; toes scutellate above, free, margined ; two lateral toes nearly equal, middle one not much longer, hind toe much smaller.

Plumage rather compact. Wings of moderate length, second and third quills longest, first and fourth equal. Tail rather short, much rounded.

Bill deep carmine-purple. Iris brown ; bare space surrounding the eye light blue. Feet deep carmine-purple. The general colour of the plumage above is light yellowish-brown tinged with grey. Quills brownish-black, narrowly margined with white, seven of the secondaries broadly tipped with the same ; the inner ones of the same colour as the back, but having a broad black spot on the inner web towards the end, which is also the case with the tertiaries ; several of the coverts also have a black spot on the outer web. The four lateral tail-feathers on each side are greyish-blue, with a broad black bar towards the end, the extremity greyish-white, the four middle feathers of the colour of the back, with a faint dusky bar. The sides of the head and under parts are of a light brownish-red, paler on the throat, and passing into greyish-blue on the sides ; under wing-coverts pale bluish-^rey. There is a small spot of deep blue immediately behind the eye, and a larger one a little below on the side