Descriptions of new species of birds of the family Columbidae

Lawrence

on Nc-v Species of Columbidce.

7C7

DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS OF THE FAMILY COLUMBIDCE.

BY GEORGE

^N.

LAWRENCE.

i. Zenaida rubripes.

Fcfnale. The front is of a light brown tinged with vinaceous; the upperplumageis olivaceous-brown, witha dull reddish tinge, which is

mostobservable on the back; the hind part and sides of the neck are grayish, thelatterglossedwith golden changing to light violet; thetwo

central tail-feathersare olive brown; the outer web ofthe first lateral featherispale rufous; thebases of the four outeronesare brownish-cine- reous, with theirendslargely palerufous, the two colors separated by a blackbar;the other tail-feathers are dark cinereous with a subterminal blackbar, on the under side the color of the basal portion of the tail feathersisblackish cinereous; the primaries are dark umber-brown, the secondariesbrownish-black,both narrowly edged with white; thetertials arethe color of theback, andaremarkedwithfourconspicuousoval spots of black; the under wing-coverts are light bluish-ash, the flanks dark ashy-blue;behind theeye^isa smallspot ofblack,and another below the ears, sidesof theheadand thechin pale vinaceous, the latter lighter in color; theunderplumageisof areddish cinnamoncolor, rather dull on the throatandbreast,butsomewhatbrighteron the abdomen and under tail-coverts;billblack; tarsi and toescarminered.

The colorofthefeet in the dried specimen isquitebright;inthe living bird itisdoubtless

much

moreso. The tailhas fourteen rectrices.

Length,fresh, 9.50inches^; wing, 5.25;tail,3.38;bill, .62; tarsus,_.75 Habitat. The Island ofGrenada, West Indies. Type in the National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. — As

it somewlv.it resembles the description of T.

viniceo-rufa Ridg., I sent itto

Mr. Ridgway

requesting

him

to

make

a comparison with the typeof thatspecies; he writes that

it differsfrom it "in shortertail, with the feathers

much

broader and

more

rounded atthe end; decidedly smaller ^bill,

much

less purplish crissum,and inhaving the tail-feathers

much more

gray, with the terminal portion of the lateral ones

much

paler and of a

more

uniform rufous."

Mr.

_J.

G. Wells

of

Grenada

in his manuscript list of the birds ofthat island,gives the

name

'Trinidad Dove' to one ofthe species.

For

a year or

more

I have been urging

him

to procure

a specimen thatit

might

be identified.

He

wrote that his en-

gagements would

not admit of hisgoing after it, as it

was

found

?C8 Lawrence

on

New

Species ofColumbidce. ^[October

only in a distant part of the island.

A few

days since I

was much

pleased toreceivea letter

from

him, togetherwith a speci-

men

of the desired

Dove.

He

wrote ^as follows: "It iswith greatpleasureI

now

forward

to you l>v

hook

post, a skin of the

Dove known

locally as the Trinidad

Ground Dove.

Thisbird

was

shoton the eastern side of the island and sent

tome

bya brother of mine,

who knew

I

was

anxious to procure a

specimen

^{of it; it isnota}

common

bird.

I have shot three or four of

them

on a small island oft' the south coast called 'Glover's Island,'

where

I believe they resort during the nesting period,

and

I

have

also shot one in Carriacou, but have never until this instance seenone taken ontheislandproper;

the presentspecimenisa 9^,

and

I

would

havebeen very glad to geta

$

^{also, as (writing from}

memory)

^{I believe the}

$

^{to have}

agray head; however, I shalluseevery endeavor toprocure one."

2. Zenaida bogotensis.

Frontand sidesof the head vinaceous; under the eara spot of black;

vertex andocciputdull plumbeous; plumage above brownish-olive, red- dish onthe back; sides of the neck golden-violet; the two middle tail- feathers aredarkolive-brown,the next pair are brownish-ash, the others are grayish-ash for two-thirds their length, ending with pale rufous, brightestonthe three outer feathers;allhave asubterminalbandof black separating thetwocolors: the outerwebof thefirst lateralfeatherisclear lightrufous; thetail-feathers underneath have their bases blackish; the tail consists of fourteen rectrices^; the lesser wing-coverts are reddish- brown,lighter incolorthan the back; the greater wing-coverts are grayish- brown, the primary and secondary ^{quills are} blackish-brown, narrowly edged with white, and have their shafts of a dark brownish-red; the tertiariesare reddish-brown, marked with three large oval spots of black;

under wing-coverts and axillars plumbeous-white; chin whitish, upper part of throat pale vinaceous, lower part of throat and upper part of breast of a dull chocolate cinnamon color; the breast below this is

pale cinnamon, the abdomen of the same color but brighter, and the under tail-coverts of a still deeper and brighter cinnamon; the flanks areashy-blue; thebillisblack; thefeet, in the dried specimen,areyellow-

>sh.

Length,uncertain (theskinbeingmadeup veryshort);wing,6.13; ^tail, 4.to;bill, .70; tarsus,.87.

Habitat. Bogota,

New

Grenada. Type in

my

collection.

Remarks. — I have had this specimen for several years.

supposing it tobe

L. raficauda

Bonap., but while investigating the

West

India species, I find itto be distinct. In this opinion

iSSs.]

Ridgway

on Helminthophila leucobronchialis.

3S9

Mr. Ridway

concurs, and says "it differsfrom T.vinaceo-rufa

in

much

deepergeneral coloration, thevery different colorof the crissum (rufous instead of purplish vinaceous), and

much

larger size, especially thebill."

T. ruficauda

seems

tohe a rare species, as there is no speci-

men

inthe National

Museum

or in thatof the

American Museum

of Natural History,

New York.

^{It is} described as being quite dark above ("brunneo-ardesiaca"), withthe hind neck

plumbe-

ous;

below

and on the neck rosy

wine

color; a spotunderthe eye

and

a linebehindtheeye,violet-black,bordered with white; sides of the neck golden-violet; wing-coverts " _ardesiacis "

; quills blackish, tail short, outer tail-feathers "fusco-ardesiacis," witha black spot across the middle, the end broadly rufous.

New

York, September15, 1885.

HELMINTHOPHILA LEUCOBRONCHIALIS.

BY ROBERT RIDGWAY.

Without

havingany

new

evidence to present concerning this perplexing bird inthe

way

of additional specimens, I

would

like to offer forconsiderationahypothesis

which

^it

seems

to

me

affords a

more

plausible explanation of certain aspectsof the case than that

which

suggests hybridism

between

simply

H.

chrysoptera and

H. pinns

as sufficient toaccount for the variable 'aberrant' series

which

hasbeen referred to

U.

leucobronchialis, together with those

which

represent the so-called

H.

lawrcncei'.

It has been stated that

H.

Icucobroiichialisand

H.

lawrencei possess no important original characters. Thisis certainly true of the latter,

which

isvery obviouslyahybridof the

above-named

species; but^it isnot true of the former,

which

inits pure white throat, invery strikingcontradistinction tothe deep grayorblack throatofone and brightyellow throat of the other alleged parent, certainlydoespossessoneveryimportantoriginal character,

which

it is impossible toconceive canbe derived from the crossing of the

two

species in question.