Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/421

Rh occasion. They alight on the lower branches of shrubby trees, and delight in the neighbourhood of shady ponds, but always inhabit, by preference, the darkest solitudes.

The nest of the Key West Pigeon is formed of light dry twigs, and much resembles in shape that of the Carolina Dove. Sometimes you find it situated on the ground, when less preparation is used. Some nests are placed on the large branches of trees quite low, while others are fixed on slender twigs. On the 20th May, one of these nests was found con- taining two pure white eggs, about the size of those of the White-headed Pigeon, nearly round, and so transparent that I could see the yolk by holding them to the light. How long incubation continues, or if they raise more than one brood in a season, I am unable to say.

Towards the middle of July they become sufficiently abundant at Key West, to enable sportsmen to shoot as many as a score in a day ; for, as soon as the young are able to follow their parents^ they frequently resort to the roads to dust themselves, and are then easily approached. Dr Stroeel told me he had procured more than a dozen of these birds in tiie course of a morning, and assured me that they were excellent eating. Their food consists of berries and seeds of different plants, and when the sea^grape is ripe, they feed greedily upon it. They all depart for Cuba, or the other West India Islands, about the middle of October.

Until my arrival at Key West, this species was supposed to be the Zenaida Dove. The young, when fully feathered, are of a dark-grey colour above, lighter below, the bill and legs of a deep leaden hue. I am inclined to believe that they attain their full beauty of plumage the following spring.

So much are these birds confined to the interior of the undergrowth, that their loves are entirely prosecuted there ; nor do they on such occa- ^ons elevate themselves in the air, as is the manner of the Carolina Dove.

CoLUMBA MONTANA, Linn. Sjst. Nat. vol. i. p. 281. — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 594.

Pakthidge Pigeon, Lath. S^nops. vol. iv. p. 615.

Adult Male. Plate CLXVII. Fig 1.

Bill straight, of ordinary length, rather slender, broader than deep at the base, compressed toward the end ; upper mandible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, a convex declinate obtuse tip, and a slight