BIRDS OF KANSAS. 237 



front toes rarely webbed at base. Tarsus with small scutella in front, or of tener 

 reticulate, the envelope rather membranous tliau corneous. Head very small. 

 Plumage without aftershafts. One pair of syriugeal muscles. Sternum doubly 

 notched or notched and fenestrate on each side. Carotids double. Palate schiz- 

 oguathous. Monogamous and highly altricial and ptiloptedic." 



Family COLTJMBIDJE. Pigeons. 



"The basal portion of the bill covered by a soft skin, in which are situated 

 the nostrils, overhimg by an incumbent fleshy valve, the apical portion hard and 

 convex. The hind toe on the same level with the rest; the anterior toes with- 

 out membrane at the base. Tarsi more or less naked; covered laterally and 

 behind with hexagonal scales." 



Genus ECTOPISTES Swainson. 

 "Head very small. Bill short, black; culmen one-third the rest of the head; 

 feathers of the chin running very far forward; gonys very short. Tarsi very 

 short, half covered anteriorly by feathers. Inner lateral claw much larger than 

 outer, reaching to the base of the middle one. Tail very long and excessively 

 cuueate; above as long as the wings. First primaries longest. Black spots ou 

 scapulars; a black and a rufous spot on inner webs of tail feathers." 



Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.). 



PASSENGER PIGEON. 

 PLATE XIV. 



Irregular summer resident; rare; a few to my knowledge 

 breed occasionally in the Neosho valley. Arrive early in March; 

 begin laying by the middle of April. 



B. 448. R. 459. C. 543. G. 315, 109. U. 315. 



Habitat. Eastern North America, from Hudson's Bay south- 

 ward, and west to the Great Plains; casually westward to Ne- 

 vada and Washington; Cuba. 



Sp. Char. "Tail with twelve feathers. Upper parts generally, including 

 sides and body, head and neck, and the chin, blue. Beneath, purple brownish 

 red, fading behind into a violet tint. Anal region and under tail coverts bluish 

 white. Scapulars, inner tertials and middle of back with an olive brown tinge; 

 the wing coverts, scapulars and inner tertials with large, oval spots of blue 

 black on the inner webs, mostly concealed, except on the latter. Primaries 

 blackish, with a border of pale bluish, tinged internally with red. Middle tail 

 feathers brown; the rest pale blue ou the outer web, white internally; each with 

 a patch of reddish brown at the base of the inner web, followed by another of 

 black. Sides and back of neck richly glossed with metallic golden violet or 

 reddish purple. Tibia bluish violet. Bill black. Feet lake red. The female 

 is smaller, much duller in color, more olivaceous above; beneath, pale ash in- 

 stead of red, except a tinge on the neck; the jugulum tinged with olive, the 

 throat whitish." 



