(BLACK-WINGED DOVE.)
+Metriopelia melanoptera+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 496
(Cordilleras); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 132.
_Description._--Above pale brown; wings and tail black; bend of wing
white; wing-coverts like the back: beneath pale vinaceous; bill and
feet black: whole length 8·0 inches, wing 5·0, tail 3·5. _Female_
similar.
_Hab._ Andes of South America.
This Dove is widely diffused in Western South America from Ecuador to
Chili. Dr. Burmeister tells us that it is found in the high valleys
of the Cordilleras on the Argentine side, from 6000 to 12,000 feet in
altitude, and along with _Phrygilus fruticeti_ is one of the birds seen
at the greatest altitudes by the traveller over the passes of the Andes.
One of Dr. Burmeister's specimens is in the collection of Messrs. Salvin
and Godman.