Meaning
A Jamaican dove with a pale, whitish breast and belly — the 'white-belly', one of several wild doves and pigeons of the island's bush and woodland. Larger doves and pigeons like this were traditionally hunted for the pot, and the white-belly is known to country people by sight and by its call. It sits alongside the pea dove and the baldpate in the everyday naming of the birds that share the fields and forests.
Examples
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A white-belly dove siddung pon di wire.
A white-belly dove sat on the wire.
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Di hunter shoot white-belly inna di bush.
The hunter shot white-belly doves in the bush.
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Yuh hear di white-belly a coo.
You hear the white-belly dove cooing.
Origin
From 'white belly' (its pale breast) + 'dove'; a Jamaican wild dove. See [[pea-dove]], [[baldpate]].
How it’s used
A pale-breasted Jamaican wild dove ('white-belly'). See [[pea-dove]], [[baldpate]].