PIGEONS AND DOVES 79 



left to bear testimony to the destruction which 

 American thoughtlessness has wrought, and the 

 sight of a single migrant stopping in one's woods 

 is cause for much congratulation ! 



The Passenger Pigeon, the Mourning Dove, and 

 the Ground Dove are the three best known of the 

 family, and stand by themselves distinct from all 

 other eastern birds. As a family, the Doves are 

 not gifted with song, but their soft voices, delicate 

 tints, and gentle ways render them among the most 

 attractive of our birds. They are encouraging to 

 the beginner, for they help him realize that birds 

 are not all alike, and really may be easily classified. 

 As the Doves belong to the family of the domestic 

 Pigeons, the Quails and Grouse to the family of 

 the domestic fowls, other birds may be quickly 

 separated off from the number of confusing, un- 

 known songsters. The Crow and Hummingbird 

 stand apart, and the Chimney Swift and Swallows 

 are easily distinguished, while the brilliantly col- 

 ored Cardinal and Oriole are not to be confounded 

 with the little brown Wrens of the ground or the 

 gray-blue Chickadees and Nuthatches of the trees. 

 The Bluebird and Robin every one recognizes ; and 

 the two melodious cousins, the Catbird and Mock- 

 ingbird, speak for themselves. By grouping the 

 birds you know and then eliminating them from 

 those you do not know, identification of the un- 

 known ones becomes much simplified. If you 

 know that a bird is neither a Wren, Nuthatch, 



