(_Lapwing._)
_Turtur leucopterus._
_Columba leucoptera_, +Linn.+—Edw. 76.
_Zenaida leucoptera_, +G. R. Gray+.
[88] Length 12¹⁄₄ inches, expanse 19, flexure 6¹⁄₄, tail 4¹⁄₂,
rictus 1, tarsus 1, middle toe 1²⁄₁₀. Irides bright orange;
feet lake-red; beak black; lores and eyelids light blue. Upper
parts dusky umber, the crown, hind-head, and nape suffused with
purple; loins and tail-coverts blue-grey, the latter tipped with
umber. Wing-quills blue-black, the first four narrowly edged, the
secondaries tipped, with white, primary-coverts and winglet black;
greater and middle secondary-coverts pure white with grey bases,
forming a broad band from shoulder to hind angle. Uropygials umber,
tail-feathers grey with broad bluish-white tips, the grey becoming
black at its termination, and ending abruptly: the white is more
pure, and the grey nearly black on the under surface. Neck, throat,
and breast pale umber, glossed on the side with green, crimson, and
gold reflections; a spot of deep-blue under the ear; belly, sides,
and under tail-coverts greyish white. Sexes alike. Intestine 41
inches: no cæcum.
This is a Turtle of much elegance. Its general aspect resembles that of
the Pea-dove, but its colour is less warm, and its figure less plump.
The singular white band on the wing is at any distance a sufficient
distinctive mark. It is the only gregarious Dove we have; for the small
companies of the Ground Dove can hardly entitle it to be so called: the
Whitewing, however, associates in flocks of twenty or thirty, which,
when removing, fly in a body, as do tame Pigeons. In the early months
of the year, when the physic-nut (_Jatropha curcas_) is ripening, and
oranges come in, the Whitewing becomes plentiful in open pastures, and
the low woods in the neighbourhood of habitations; the seeds of these
fruits, and the castor-oil nut, forming the principal part of their
food. At this time they are very easily shot, as they walk about on
the ground. They are also taken very readily in springes, and in traps
called _calambans_, baited with orange seeds. Sometimes when the foot
is caught in the springe, the bird will remain very quietly; at others
it struggles much, so as almost to be deplumed: cats often find them,
and leave little but feathers to the owner. Occasionally the bird is
caught by the neck, and I have been told of an instance, in which a
Whitewing taken thus, flying with impetuosity on the alarm, cut its
head absolutely off with the string, the body falling one way and the
head another. From the ease with which they are procured, they are a
good deal eaten, though seldom fat, and rather subject to be bitter.
When the rains fall, we see the Whitewings but seldom; they betake
themselves to the deep woods and impenetrable morasses, when their
presence is indicated by their loud stammering coo. The full coo
consists of more notes than that of any other of our Doves; rendered
into negro-English, it runs thus: “_Since poor Gilpin die, cow-head
spoil_,” the last note protracted and falling meaningly. This, however,
is not uttered, as far as my experience goes, when coming out into “the
open” to feed. Two which I had with other Doves, caged, were usually
silent; but in Mr. Hill’s larger collection, the Whitewings were most
pertinaciously vociferous. All the day long, the four-fold coo, “_two
bits for two_” or “_what’s that to you?_” loud and vehement, saluted
our ears. Sometimes it was replaced by a sort of chorus, more musical,
“_toora-loora, toora-loora_.” The other Doves cooed occasionally, but
the Whitewings incessantly.
The food of this Pigeon, when retired from view, I am not acquainted
with; it is probably the seeds and berries which supply its congeners.
The seed of the sour-sop is perhaps agreeable to it, for one of my
lads once caught a Whitewing by bird-lime set for Blue Quits at a ripe
sour-sop. Farinaceous and pulpy berries are found in the woods at all
seasons, so that the Pigeons and other frugivorous birds have not
only abundance but variety. Its nest is not very often met with. I am
informed that it occasionally builds in a pimento; Robinson says that
it builds also in the orange, and sea-side grape, in May, a very slight
and narrow platform of rude twigs, and lays two eggs, of a pale drab
hue.
The general form, the shortness of the tarsus, the length of the tail,
and its manners, associate this species rather with the arboreal than
the terrestrial Doves. It, however, approaches the latter. Those which
I kept in a cage, habitually rested on the highest perches, while the
Pea-doves generally rested on the floor.
The Whitewing is swift and strong on the wing; but its flight is not
accompanied with that peculiar whistling, produced by the wings of the
Pea-dove.