COLUMBID^. 397 



of drinking and of administering food to their young 

 family^ in the singularity of their caresses, in the 

 nature of their plumage, and in their vocal capa- 

 bilities. They neither sing nor utter any cry ; their 

 only voice, in the adult state, consists of a full, 

 rolling sound, generally designated by the term 

 " cooing." Other dissimilarities separate them 

 from the Gallinaceous races, with which they have 

 little in common, either in their instincts, their 

 manner of life, or their mode of pairing. The 

 Gallinge, as the reader will have noticed, are almost 

 all of them polygamists, and the females by laying 

 numerous eggs produce a covey at a single brood. 

 Moreover, in temperate climates this happens but 

 once ill the year. The Pigeons, on the contrary, 

 are all of them strictly monogamous, and the female 

 lays but two eggs for each sitting, although she has 

 several broods. In the Gallinaceous tribes the male 

 renders no assistance to the female, either in the 

 construction of the nest or in the care of their 

 progeny. The chickens are born with their eyesight 

 perfect, and as soon as they escape from the egg- 

 shell are able to run about, and to procure for 

 themselves their own food. 



The principal distinctive character of the Columbas 

 is furnished by the structure of the bill. The upper 

 mandible consists of a horny apical portion^, which 

 is often of considerable length and strength, but its 

 base is formed by a convex cartilaginous plate, in 

 the anterior portion of which the nostrils are situated. 

 The skin covering the cartilaginous portion is of a 

 soft texture, very different from the rest of the bill. 

 It is sometimes smooth, and clothed with a sort of 

 scurf, but in other cases it is warty, or even deve- 

 loped into a fleshy wattle. This is especially the 

 case in some domesticated varieties of the Pigeon. 

 The Columbge are provided with short tarsi and 

 moderately long toes, all scutellated. The toes are 

 four in number, three in front and one behind. The 

 anterior toes are not united by a membrane at the 



