most authorsby stating that the bird ts A history "now rare in most parts of its range" From the standpoint of United States of the Key West Quail-Dove records,the species'status in the Bahamas and Cuba are of most concern, for these in the United States countrieslie approximately77 km from West Palm Beachand 160 km from Key West, respectively.Unfortunately there existsno modern,comprehensive treat- An elusivespecies visits Florida and ment of Bahamian birds. A recent field inspiresthis historicalreview guide (Brudenell-Bruce,op.cit.), based primarily on observationsmade on New Bruce A. Sorrie Providence,gives the statusofG. chrysm as a fairly common resident on that island,but merely indicatesits presence on four others. The situation on Cuba has had better HERECENT OCCURRENCE -- corrob- otherinvertebrates (Goodwin, 1970). My documentation. Barbour (1923, 1943) oratedby thousandsof birders-- of own experiencewith the speciesin Puerto expressedconcern for the speciesthere, a Key West Quail-Dove (Geotrygonchry- Ricois that it prefersdense woodlands of due to the widespreaddeforestation of sin) at EvergladesNational Park, Flor- rather thin-boled trees and where the the lowlands. He states: "Nowhere abun- ida, has stimulatedinterest in the enig- herblayer is not well-developed,although dant, indeeda rather rare bird through- matic history of this species in the there often is a shrub layer of varying out its considerablerange, the Key West United States.In this paper I will review density. Becauseof the latter, one some- quail dove is one of the specieswhich the past occurrencesof this speciesand times must squat near the ground to sooneror later will completelydisap- advance several theories to account for obtain adequateviews of the bird. It is pear." More recent information is not so them. noteworthyto mention, in light of the pessimistic. Garrido and Montafia Despite its occurrenceas a resident 1979 individual, that Key West Quail- (1975)say it is rare, althoughmore com- breeding bird on severalmajor islands Doves are not infrequently found in mon in the eastern part of Cuba, and that have seenconsiderable ornitholog- paths, lanes, and clearings(Goodwin, very common in parts of the Isla of ical attention, the Key West Quail-Dove 1970; Brudenell-Bruce,1975; pers.obs.). Pines. Finally, in 1978 and 1979, J.F. remains a little-known bird. This should Nesting extendsfrom February to June Clements made several observations of comeas no surprise,however -- of the (Barbour, 1943; Wetmore and Swales, this speciesover a wide area of Cuba and 13-15 specieswithin the genus Geotry- op. cit.), althoughterritorial callingmay found it to be "locally common" tn gon, for only one,the widespreadRuddy continue into September (Brudenell- lowland forests and limestone hills. He Quail-Dove (G. montana), is there more Bruce, op.cit.). assertsthat duringthe pasttwenty yeats than rudimentary life history informa- Consideredshy or evenelusive by most this and othergame species have prob- tion known(see Skutch, 1949).Currently observers,"...it usuallywalks or runs ably undergonepopulation increases, authors (Bond, 1956, 1971: Goodwin, away from the intruder and takes flight owingto the strict no-firearmspolicy •n 1970) cite the range of the Key West silently upon reaching open space" effectthroughout the country (pers. comm ) Quail-Dove as the Bahamas and the (Brudenell-Bruce, loc.cit.). However, I Thus it would appear that, at least on Greater Antilles, excepting Jamaica. believe that much of the difficulty in Cuba, and New Providence, the Key Bond (1956)states that it is "of acciden- observingthe bird stemsfrom the phys- West Quail-Dove is not as rare as is gen- tal occurrenceon Key West", but cites iographyof its habitat-- the closespac- erally supposedand to considerthese no other extralimital records. ing of the trees,the low light levels,and islandsas possiblesources of dispersal•s The sp