Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/510

474 but the greater number retire either to the sea islands or to the Floridas. I met with them on the Keys resorted to by the Zenaida Dove, and saw some on Sandy Island, which lies six miles south from Cape Sable, the extreme point of the peninsula. They were so gentle that I approached them within less than two yards. Their nest was placed on the top of a cactus, not more than two feet high. I took some pleasure in destroying a pair of Fish Crows, that were waiting an opportunity to deprive them of their young.

In a wild state, the food of this species consists of grass- seeds and various small berries, with which they pick up a large proportion of gra- vel to assist digestion. They are extremely fond of dusting themselves in the sand, lying down upon it for a long time, in the manner of Part- ridges and other Gallinaceous birds, to which indeed they are closely al- lied. Their flesh is excellent.

CoLUMBA PASSEEiNAjLtnjj. Syst. Nat. voL i. p. 285 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. iL p. 611. — Ch. B(maparte, Sjnops. of Birds of the United States, p. 120.

Ghound Dove, Columba passeeina, Wils. Amer. Ornith. voL iv. p. 15. pi. 46. fig. 2. male, fig. 3. female NuttaU, Manual, part i. p. 635.

Adult Male. Plate CLXXXII. Fig. 1, 2, 3.

Bill rather short, slender, feeble, compressed, straight ; upper mandible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, the tip rather obtuse, its margins sharp ; lower mandible nearly straight in its dorsal outline. Nostrils medial, oblique, linear. Head small, roundish, neck short, body moderately full. Legs short ; tarsus short, compressed, covered anteriorly with a few transverse scutella ; toes free, slender, scutellate above ; hind toe shorter and more slender, the two lateral equal, the middle one not much longer ; claws short, compressed, deep, acute.

Plumage soft, blended, without gloss. Wings of moderate length ; second quill longest, third nearly as long, first and fourth about equal ; secondaries long and rounded ; the first, second and third primaries slight, cut out on the outer margin. Tail of moderate length, rounded, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.

Bill pale red, inclining to orange, dusky at the tip. Iris orange-red. Feet flesh-coloured. Forehead, sides of the head, anterior and lateral parts of the neck, breast, and sides, light purplish-red or vinaceous, the central part of the neck-feathers dusky, hind head and posterior part of