I am convinced that our Partridge dove is the _montana_ of Linnæus,
and not his _Martinica_; the _Martinica_ of Temminck, and not his
_montana_; the _Pigeon roux de Cayenne_ of Buffon, and not his _P. de
la Martinique_; and that it is not the _montana_ of Audubon;—provided
the descriptions and figures of these naturalists faithfully represent
their originals.
This bird, the female of which is the least beautiful of all our
Doves, is generally scattered. It affects a well-wooded country, and
is found in such woods as are more choked with bushes than such as the
Whitebelly prefers; though they often dwell together. It is essentially
a ground-pigeon, walking in couples or singly, seeking for seeds or
gravel on the earth. It is often seen beneath a pimento picking up the
fallen berries; the physic-nut also and other oily seeds afford it
sustenance. Sam once observed a pair of these Doves eating the large
seed of a mango, that had been crushed. With seeds, I have occasionally
found small slugs, a species of _Vaginulus_, common in damp places,
in its gizzard. Often when riding through the Cotta-wood, a dense
and tangled coppice near Content, I have been startled by the loud
whirring of one of these birds, and at the same instant its short,
thick-set form has shot across on rapid wing, conspicuous for a moment
from its bright rufous plumage, but instantly lost in the surrounding
bushes. When on the ground it is wary and difficult of approach; but
if it takes a tree, it seems less fearful, and will allow the aim of
the sportsman. It is in the dry season, and particularly during the
parching norths that prevail at intervals from November to March, that
the Partridge, as well as one or two other species of Dove, is numerous
in the lowland woods. In the summer it is much less frequently seen and
then only in the deep woods.
In some districts it is very abundant, though Dr. Chamberlaine
intimates that it has become scarce in the neighbourhood of Kingston.
He mentions, as localities in which it may still be found, “the
pastures beneath the Ferry-hills, and other cool and retired retreats
in the parishes of St. Catherine’s, St. John’s, St. Ann’s, &c.” To
these I can add from my own observation, that it is common about Auld
Ayr and Shrewsbury woods, and abundant at Content, the Cotta-wood, and
Vinegar Hill, in St. Elizabeth’s and Westmoreland. In the last named
locality, a lad caught twenty or more, in springes, during two or three
days, in February. It is readily kept in a cage with other Doves, and
fed with maize.
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