_Scardafella inca_, (BONAP.) SCL. P. Z. S. 1859, 391.—REICHENB. Handb.
19, tab. 250, f. 1393; tab. 253, f. 1410.—ELLIOT, Illust. II, pl.
xxxvii.—COOP. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 519. _Scardafella squamosa_ (“TEMM.”)
WAGL. Isis, 1831, 519 (not of Temminck!).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
605.
SP. CHAR. Above ashy-brown, becoming purer and lighter ashy on the
wings. Beneath pale ashy-lilaceous, with a pinkish tinge anteriorly,
becoming pale ochraceous on the abdomen, tibiæ, and crissum. Outer
webs and ends of primaries, and tail-feathers (except the intermediæ),
dusky. Every feather (except rectrices and primaries) terminated with
a crescentic bar of dusky; these bars heaviest on the mantle, upper
tail-coverts, and on the sides and flanks, faintest on the jugulum,
obsolete on throat. Primaries and lining of wing mostly deep chestnut;
axillars black; lateral tail-feather with the terminal half white, on
both webs; second and third feathers with a gradually decreasing amount
of white. Sexes similar. _Young_ similar, but feathers faintly mottled,
and markings less sharply defined. Wing, 3.75; tail, 4.40; culmen, .47;
tarsus, .57; middle toe, .58. _Female_ a little smaller.
HAB. Rio Grande Valley, south to Guatemala. Arizona (Tucson, Bendire);
Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 391, eggs); Cordova (1856, 309); Guatemala (Ibis I,
223); Honduras (TAYLOR, Ibis, II, 227); City of Mexico (SCL. P. Z. S.
1864, 178.)
[Illustration: _Scardafella inca._]
Specimens from Nicaragua to Texas and Mazatlan do not vary appreciably.
HABITS. Our information in regard to the distribution and habits of this
species is quite incomplete. It was met with near Cadereita, in the
State of New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, who procured a specimen
April 18, 1853.
It was also found in flocks in company with _Chamæpelia rufipennis_,
near San Pedro and Peten, Honduras, by Leyland. Mr. Salvin met with
only a single specimen at Dueñas. On the coast it was more numerous,
resembling in its habits the common species of the district, _Chamæpelia
passerina_.
The “Long-tailed Ground Dove” is said by Mr. G. C. Taylor to be very
common in Honduras, where it is generally seen in pairs. They were
found to be very good eating, but too small to repay their cost where
ammunition was so scarce.
It was found breeding near Laredo, Texas, by Dr. H. B. Butcher, July 1,
1866. The nest (S. I. 12,896) is said to have been built in the fork
of a small mesquite-tree, and to have contained two eggs. The eggs are
similar to those of the _Chamæpelia passerina_, white, of an oval shape,
nearly equally obtuse at either end.
Mr. Xantus found this Dove breeding abundantly at Cape St. Lucas. The
maximum number of eggs was invariably two. One nest was found in a
leafless acacia about six feet from the ground; another, found May 26,
was about five feet high, in a small thorn-bush; a third was at the
height of eight feet, and also placed in a bush; others were placed in
small oaks, in cacti, in opuntia, and other situations, all above the
ground at heights varying from five to eight feet.
The eggs of this Dove are of a white color, are oval in their shape, of
about equal size at either end, and measure .91 of an inch in length by
.70 in breadth.