Band-tailed Pigeon 157 



covered by a soft skin, forming what is called a cere. 

 There are eleven primaries ; the number of tail-feathers 

 varies from twelve to twenty ; the hind toe, which is 

 always present, is jointed on a level with the other toes. 

 The young, when hatched, are naked and helpless, and 

 are entirely dependent on their parents for some con- 

 siderable time. 



There are only three Pigeons found in Colorado ; they 

 can be distinguished as follows : — 



Key of the Species. 



A. Large — wing 8 to 9 ; a rounded tail and a white collar. 



Columba fasciata, p. 157. 



B. Smaller — wing 6 to 7. 



a. Tail wedge-shaped ; black spots on the scapulars. 



Zenaidura m. carolinensis, p. 159. 



b. Tail rounded ; a white patch on the wing. 



Melopelia asiatica, p. 161. 

 Genus COLUMBA. 



BiU soraewhat short and stout ; the soft basal portion roui^ded ; 

 no black spots on the scapulars ; tail of twelve feathers about f the 

 length of wing, nearly even, the feathers broad and rounded ; 

 tarsus about half feathered and scutellate. 



A cosmopolitan genus with a very large number of species ; only two 

 are at all common in the United States. 



Band-tailed Pigeon. Columba fasciata. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 312 — Colorado Records — Say 23, ii. p. 10; 

 Henshaw 75, p. 429 ; Drew 85, p. 17 ; Morrison 89, p. 6 ; KeUogg 90, 

 p. 87 ; Lowe 94, p. 267 ; H. G. Smith 96, p. 65 ; Cooke 97, pp. 72, 

 160, 203 ; Dille 09, p. 87 ; Henderson 09, p. 228. 



Description. — Male — Head all round and under-parts lavender-grey, 

 paling to white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; a narrow 

 white half-collar on the nape ; back slaty-blue becoming dusky on the 

 wings, and with a patch of iridescent green behind the collar ; tail 

 with a dusky black transverse band, the terminal portion paler than the 

 back ; eye with a red ring, bill yellow, black at the tip ; legs yellow. 

 Length 14-0; wing 8"25 ; tail 4-75; cubnen -7; tarsus 1-0. 



The female is like the male but rather duller ; the lavender of the 

 head and under-parts is obscured by brown, and the white collar and 



