_Columba cyanocephala_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 282.—GMELIN, Syst.
I, 1788, 778.—WAGLER, Syst. Avium, 1827, _Columba_, No. 112.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 441; V. 1839, 557, pl. clxxii. _Starnœnas
cyanocephala_, BONAP. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. II, 1854, 69.—AUD. Syn.
1839, 193.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 23, pl. cclxxxiv.—GUNDLACH,
Cab. Journ. IV, 1856, 108.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 608.—CAB.
J. IV, 108 (Cuba).—GUNDL. Repert. Cub. I, 1866, 299.—REICHENB.
Handb. Taub. 30, tab. 257, f. 1431; 266, f. 2879–81. _Starnœnas
cyanocephala_, REICHENBACH, Systema Av. 1851, p. xxv, pl. xxiii.—IB.
Icones Av. tab. 260 and 266. _Geophilus? cyanocephala_, SELBY,
Pigeons, Jard. Nat. Lib. V, 216, pl. xxvii. _Columba_ (_Lophyrus_)
_cyanocephala_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d. ed.,) 1840, 769. _Columba
tetraoides_, (SCOPOLI,) GMELIN, I, 772. _Blue-headed Turtle_, LATHAM,
Syn. II, II, 651.
SP. CHAR. Bill blue, the fleshy part at the base carmine. Iris brown,
scales of feet carmine, the interspaces white. Above and on sides glossy
dark chocolate-olivaceous; beneath brownish-red, lighter centrally. Chin
and throat black, with a narrow border of white below. A white line
begins in the chin, and passes under the eye to the occiput. Sides of
head above this and forehead black; crown blue. Length, 10.70; wing,
5.40; tail, 4.35.
HAB. West India Islands; according to Audubon found occasionally at Key
West, Florida, and other southern keys.
[Illustration: =2827= ♂ ½ ½
_Starnœnas cyanocephala._]
The axillars and under surface of the wings are like the belly. The
crissum is most like the back. The outer tail-feathers have a bluish
tinge above.
The hind toe in this species is not strictly in the same plane with the
others, but placed a little above their point of insertion.
HABITS. This handsome Pigeon belongs to the fauna of the West India
Islands, and is only an occasional visitant of Key West and other
southern keys of Florida. They are a common species in Cuba, from
which island a few are stated by Mr. Audubon to migrate each year to
certain of the keys of Florida, where, however, they are rarely seen on
account of their living only in the most tangled thickets. Mr. Audubon
saw a pair on the western side of Key West. They were near the water
picking gravel, but they would not suffer a near approach. He saw a
pair, also, that had been taken, when young, on “Mule Keys.” These fed
well on cracked corn and rice, but he was unable to obtain any further
information in respect to them.
Though abundant in Cuba this species does not appear to have been found
in Jamaica, except as an imported bird from the former island, contrary
to the assertions of various writers, as Temminck, Brisson, and others.
Mr. Gosse was not able to trace its presence, though its existence among
the precipitous woods on the north side of that island he regards as
quite possible.
[Illustration: _Starnœnas cyanocephala._]
Like _Oreopeleia martinica_ and _Zenaida amabilis_, this species, though
described by Audubon as not being rare on the keys of South Florida, has
not been met with in that State by later explorers.
An egg of this species laid in confinement in the aviary of Dr. Bachman,
in Charleston, S. C., is of a rounded-oval shape, and of a uniform
creamy-white color; it measures 1.43 inches in length by 1.10 in
breadth.