The SPARROW PIGEON, or GROUND DOVE, as it is called in North America
(_Pyrgitænas passerina_, or _Columba passerina_), is principally of a
greyish brown, with dark grey crown of head and nape. The rump is dull
brownish grey, and the breast whitish; the feathers on the breast and
fore part of the throat are edged with deep brown; the quills are dark
brown, with brownish red inner web; the tail-feathers black, those at
the exterior bordered with white on the outer web; the feathers on the
wing-covers are enlivened by round spots of metallic lustre. The eye is
bright orange, the beak pale red, deepest in shade at its tip; the foot
is reddish brown. The Ground Dove is six inches and a half long, and ten
inches and a quarter broad. The wing measures three inches and a quarter,
the tail two inches and a third.
This species, which is the smallest, most delicate, and inoffensive of
all Doves, is a native of the West Indian Islands and the Southern States
of North America. In the northern parts of that continent it visits the
country near the coast only during the course of its migrations. In
Jamaica, on the contrary, it remains throughout the entire year, living in
small parties of from four to twenty birds, and frequenting grassy plains
or pasture land.
"The flight of the Ground Dove," says Audubon, "is low, easy, and
accompanied by a whistling sound, produced by the action of the wings
when the bird is surprised and forced to fly; but it seldom flies more
than one hundred yards at a time, and, indeed, is extremely attached to
the spot it has selected for the season. You may drive it to the opposite
end of a field, and yet in a few hours after it may be found in the place
whence you raised it. Although it alights on trees or low bushes, on the
branches of which it walks with ease, the ground is its usual resort.
There it runs with facility, keeping its tail considerably elevated, as if
to prevent it from being soiled. It is also fond of alighting on fences,
where it is easily observed, and where it may be heard cooing for half an
hour at a time. These Pigeons are met with in groups of four or five, and
it is seldom that more than a dozen are seen together. They prefer the
thinly-grained, sandy portions of cotton-fields, pea-patches, and such
places. In East Florida they are seen in the villages, and resort to the
orange-groves about them, where they frequently breed." "I have found
them," continues our author, "in the famous Spanish fort of St. Augustine,
where I have been surprised to see them rise almost perpendicularly to
reach above the parapets, by which they insured their escape. They are
easily caught in traps, and in that place are sold for six and a quarter
cents each. They readily become domesticated, and, indeed, so very gentle
are they that I have seen a pair that have been caught at the time when
their young ones were quite small, and placed in an aviary, at once cover
their little ones, and continue to nourish them until full grown. They
afterwards reared a second brood, and showed great spirit in keeping the
Jays and Starlings away from their charge. The Ground Doves were fed on
rice and other grain."
The nest of this species is large and compact, the exterior formed of
dry twigs, with a lining of grass disposed in a circular form. The eggs,
deposited in April, are two in number, and of a pure white; usually two,
sometimes three broods, are reared in the season. The male struts before
the female after the manner of the Barbary Ringed Dove.
"I met with some of these birds," says Audubon, "on Sandy Island, six
miles from Cape Sable. 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." In a wild state these Pigeons feed on various
small berries and grass seeds, with which they pick up a considerable
quantity of small gravel. They also dust themselves with sand, lying down
in it after the manner of Partridges.
* * * * *
The SPARROW-HAWK PIGEONS (_Geopeleia_) are small, graceful birds,
remarkable for their slenderness of form and length of tail. Their wings
are short and rounded, the tail graduated, and the plumage striped.