Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

182 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
in the top of some open tree, frequently an ombii, to rest in the sun.
They were common in groves of tala or ombii trees in the eastern
pampas, and flushed constantly with clapping wings as I passed
near them. Others fed along the walks or in the extensive open
grounds surrounding estancia houses.
From October to February birds were found in pairs, though
flocks gathered to feed in suitable localities. Males called at this
season, giving a low, sad-toned whoo lohoo whoo whoo-oo in a guttural
tone with little carrying power or volume of sound. When
•about to coo the upper part of the throat was expanded with air.
]Males often sailed with set wings in short circles above the trees,
with the throat distended with air, so that with their short tails
they presented an odd, rounded appearance—display flights that
ended by a descent to some perch. As flocks of birds flew past me
individuals suddenly darted sideways to produce a rattling sound
with their wings. A nest found February 2, 1921, near San Vicente,
Uruguay, was composed of a few weed stems and twigs placed on a
foundation of an old nest of some oscinine, in the fork of a small
tree more than 2 meters from the ground. It contained two eggs too
hard set to save. A second nest, built like the first on fragments of
the old nest of some perching bird, was a slight mat of fine twigs in
the limbs of a small tree 2 meters from the earth. A third, recorded
February 14 at Rio Negro, Uruguay, placed more than 2 meters from
the ground amid dense limbs of a shrub, was a slightly cupped
platform of twigs so loose in construction that the eggs were visible
through it from below. All nests examined contained eggs so hard
set that they could not be blown. February 6 to 8, while working
near Lazcano, I found young three-quarters grown, able to fly, in
thickets growing in sandy soil near the Rio CeboUati.
After the breeding season Zenaida doves congregated Avherever
food was abundant and frequently forsook areas where they had been
common earlier in the year. Grain or hemp fields v\'ere especially
attractive, as were tracts where certain large-seeded weeds were
common. The species is hunted for game, but no more so than other
small birds. The flesh is similar to that of other wild pigeons,
PICAZUROS PICAZURO PICAZURO (Tcmminck)
Columba Picazura Temminck, Hist. Nat. Pig. Gall., vol. 1, 1S13, pp. Ill,
449. (Paraguay.)
At the Riacho Pilaga, Formosa, this large pigeon was common
during my stay in August, 1920, and two adult males were killed
on August 16. The birds were gregarious while feeding or resting,
but in flight across country were found alone or in bands of small
size. They frequented the open savannas where recent burns at-