this description, their places of resort are well known, and are called
Pigeon or " Dove Keys" It would be useless to search for them elsewhere.
They are by no means so abundant as the White-headed Pigeons,
which place their nest on any kind of tree, even on those whose roots are
constantly submersed. Groups of such trees occur of considerable extent,
and are called " Wet Keys.1'
The Zenaida Dove always places her nest on the ground, sometimes
artlessly at the foot of a low bush, and so exposed that it is easily discovered
by any one searching for it. Sometimes, however, it uses great
discrimination, placing it between two or more tufts of grass, the tops of
which it manages to bend over, so as completely to conceal it. The sand
is slightly scooped out, and the nest is composed of slender dried blades
of grass, matted in a circular form, and imbedded amid dry leaves and
twigs. The fabric is more compact than the nest of any other pigeon
with which I am acquainted, it being sufficiently solid to enable a person
to carry the eggs or young in it with security. The eggs are two, pure
white, and translucent. When sitting on them, or when her young are
still small, this bird rarely removes from them, unless an attempt be made
to catch her, which she however evades with great dexterity. On several
occasions of this kind, I have thought that the next moment would render
me the possessor of one of these doves alive. Her beautiful eye was
steadily bent on mine, in which she must have discovered my intention,
her body was gently made to retire sidewise to the farther edge of her
nest, as my hand drew nearer to her, and just as I thought I had hold
of her, off she glided with the quickness of thought, taking to wing at
once. She would then alight within a few yards of me, and watch my
motions with so much sorrow, that her wings drooped, and her whole
frame trembled as if suffering from intense cold. Who could stand such
a scene of despair ? I left the mother to her eggs or offspring.
On one occasion, however, I found two young birds of this species
about half grown, which I carried off, and afterwards took to Charleston,
in South Carolina, and presented to my worthy friend the Rev. JOHN
BACHMAN. When I robbed this nest, no parent bird was near. The
little ones uttered the usual lisping notes of the tribe at this age, and as
I put their bills in my mouth, I discovered that they might be easily
raised. They were afterwards fed from the mouth with Indian corn
meal, which they received with avidity, until placed under the care of a
pair of common tame pigeons, which at once fostered them.
The cooing of this species so much resembles that of the Carolina
Dove, that, were it not rather soft, and heard in a part of the world where
the latter is never seen, you might easily take it for the notes of that
bird. Morning is the time chosen by the Zenaida Dove to repeat her
tender tales of love, which she does while perched on the low large branch
of some tree, but never from the ground. Heard in the wildest solitudes
of the Keys, these notes never fail to remind one that he is in the presence
and under the protection of the Almighty Creator.
During mid-day, when the heat is almost insufferable in the central
parts of the Keys resorted to by these birds, they are concealed and mute.
The silence of such a place at noon is extremely awful. Not a breath of
air is felt, nor an insect seen, and the scorching rays of the sun force
every animated being to seek for shelter and repose.
From what I have said of the habits of the Zenaida Dove, you may
easily conceive how difficult a task it is to procure one. I have had full
experience of the difficulty, and entire satisfaction in surmounting it, for
in less than an hour, with the assistance of Captain D A Y , I shot nineteen
individuals, the internal and external examination of which enabled me to
understand something of their structure.
The flesh is excellent, and they are generally very fat. They feed on
grass seeds, the leaves of aromatic plants, and various kinds of berries,
not excepting those of a tree which is extremely poisonous,—so much so,
that if the juice of it touch the skin of a man, it destroys it like aquafortis.
Yet these berries do not injure the health of the birds, although
they render their flesh bitter and unpalatable for a time. For this reason,
the fishermen and wreckers are in the habit of examining the crops of the
doves previous to cooking them. This, however, only takes place about
the time of their departure from the Keys, in the beginning of October.
They add particles of shell or gravel to their food.
From my own observations, and the report of others, I am inclined
to believe that they raise only two broods each season. The young,
when yet unfledged, are of a deep leaden or purplish-grey colour, the bill
and legs black, nor is it until the return of spring that they attain their
full plumage. The male is larger than the female, and richer in the
colouring of its plumage. Their feathers fall off at the slightest, touch,
and like all other pigeons, when about to die, they quiver their wings
with great force.
The branch on which I have represented these birds, belonged to a