_Zenaidura._
=Chamæpelieæ.= Size very small. Wings rounded, the primaries scarcely
longer than the tertials. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly. No blackish
spot beneath the auriculars; no metallic gloss on sides of the neck.
Tail of twelve feathers, lengthened (much longer than wings), doubly
rounded, the lateral feathers much shorter; the three outer pairs
with white terminally …
_Scardafella._
Tail of twelve feathers, short (much less than wings), simply
rounded, the lateral feathers only slightly shorter; outer feathers
without white terminally, or with only a slight edging. Wing-coverts
with oblique black spots, and body without transverse blackish bars.
Outside of the tarsus with a narrow feathered strip; lining of the
wing blackish …
_Talpacota._
Outside of the tarsus without a feathered strip; lining of the
wing wholly rufous …
_Chamæpelia._
=Starnœnadeæ.= Size moderate (generally a little larger than
_Zenaida_); form robust, or quail-like. Legs very stout; tarsi
decidedly longer than the middle toe, variously scaled anteriorly.
Wings short, very broad, and much rounded, but the primaries decidedly
longer than the secondaries.
Legs very stout; tarsi covered with hexagonal scales; crown blue; a
black gular patch, bordered below by white …
_Starnœnas._
Legs moderate; tarsi covered anteriorly with transverse scutellæ.
Crown never blue, and throat without black or white markings …
_Geotrygon._
The genera characterized above are all more or less nearly related
to others belonging to South America, and many of these apparently
form connecting links between the several North American ones. Thus,
_“Columbina” picui_, Gray (of Chili), and _C. strepitans_ (of Paraguay),
are almost exactly intermediate between _Scardafella_ and _Chamæpelia_,
both in form and colors. “_Leptoptila_” is in reality scarcely more
than a very large _Chamæpelia_ with an approach to _Zenaida_ in more
lengthened primaries, and to _Geotrygon_ in the lengthened tarsus.
_“Peristera” cinerea_ is again a slightly enlarged reproduction of
_Chamæpelia_, with the same pattern of coloration, but without rufous on
the inside of the wing.
_Starnœnas_ and _Geotrygon_ are nearly connected by the _G.
chiriquensis_, which agrees with the genus to which it is referred in
the scutellate tarsi, and with _Starnœnas_ in the peculiar structure
of the feathers of the neck, which have, as in that “genus,” a stiff,
compact structure, and rather raylike arrangement.