182 BIRDS OF ONTAKIO. 



Order COLUMBiE. Pigeons. 



Family COLUMBID^. Pigeons. 



Genus ECTOPISTES Swainson. 



ECTOPISTES MTGRATORIUS (Linx.). 



135. Passenger Pigeon, (-no) 



Adult male: — Dull blue above with olivaceous tinge on back; beli>\\. dull 

 purplish-red, whitening on vent and crissum ; sides of neck, golden auil ruby ; 

 some wing coverts, black spotted ; quills, blackish, with slaty, whitish and 

 rufous edging ; middle tail feathers, liluish-black ; the others, white or ashy ; 

 the inner webs, basally black with chestnut patch ; bill, black ; feet, coral red. 

 Ftmah and yoiin;/: — Duller and more bi-ownish or olivaceous above; below, 

 dull gi-ayish, with a tawny tmge anteriorly, or quite gray; very young have 

 the feathers skirted with wliiti.sh. Length, 15-17; wing, 7-8; tail, about tlie 

 same. 



Hab. — Eastern North America, from Hudson's Bay soutliward, and west to 

 the Great Plains; straggling westward to Nevada and Washington Territory. 



Nest, on bushes or small trees, loosely built of twigs. 



Eggs, one or two, pure white. 



As its name implies, this is a migratory species, but it has not, 

 like many others, a regular migratory course which it instinctively 

 follows year after year in the same direction. On the contrary, the 

 movements of the Wild Pigeon are quite irregular, and guided only 

 by the instinct which dii'ects the birds in their search for food. A 

 few straggling pairs are still found in the backwoods in Southern 

 Ontario, where they probabl}' breed, but the rising generation of 

 sportsmen can have but inadequate conceptions of the vast flocks of 

 pigeons whicli used in former years to pass over Hamilton. 



They were annually looked for in April. The first who observed 

 them circulated the news, "The pigeons are flying," and early in the 

 morning a regular fusilade would Ije heard all along the edge of the 

 " Mountain," where at daylight the gunners had taken up their stand 

 at points where the flocks were likely to pass. These annual migra- 

 tions seemed to attain their maximum in 1S54, "the year of tlie 

 cholera." During that sea.son, from the middle of April till the end 

 of June, flocks could be seen in every hour of every day passing 

 to the west. The summer was unusually warm, and as tlio heat 

 increased, the birds seemed weak and languid, witli scarcely enough 

 energy left to rise above the houses. Vast numbers were killed, till, 

 fortunately for the birds, a rumor got aVjroad that eating too many 



