168 On tlie Common Pigeon. 



abundant in Lake Ontario, running up the streams that emptied into it from 

 the North, but the causes abeady enumerated have compelled them to seek 

 more accessible sj^awning grounds. A few still return to their old haunts 

 along the northern shore, but ere long some Canadian Cooper may TSTite of 

 " the last of the Salmon." The same is true of the streams from the South, 

 save that in the Salmon River, in the State of New York, they have been 

 re-established by the enforcement of judicious laws. The Salmon have never 

 been known to enter the Niagara River, though frequently taken at its 

 mouth ; as if they knew its bold banks and deep current afforded no spawning 

 bed, and that its cataract no Salmon could hope to leap. 



In the streams of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia they still abound^ 

 though even there, the same reckless disregard of their habits, according to 

 the testimony of Mr. Perley, points to their extermination at no very distant 

 day. 



ARTICLE XXIX.— 0;i the Pigeon, {Ectopistes Migratoria) 



V. G. Audubon, [Esq., Son of Audubon the great Ornithologist, and 

 proprietor of his works, has, with the greatest kindness, given me permission to 

 make extracts for this Magazine, not only from the works of his illustrious father, 

 but also from his own. Several other eminent Naturalists and learned Societies, 

 hare granted me similar favours, which will be acknowledged in the proper place.^ 



E. B. 

 Gents Ectopistes, (Linn.) 



Generic Characters. — ''Bill straight, of ordinary length, rather 

 slender, broader than high at the base, with a tumid fleshy covering, com- 

 pressed towards the end ; head small, oblong ; neck of moderate length ; body 

 rather slender ; feet short ; tarsus as short as the hind toe and claw, anteriorly 

 scutellate; outer toe slightly shorter than inner ; claws rather short, stout, 

 arched, obtuse ; plumage compact above ; blended but jBrm beneath ; wings 

 long ; first and second quills longest, and about equal ; tail long, cuneate^ 

 pointed." — (Audubon's Synopsis, page 194.) 



The name of this genus appears to have been derived from the Greeks 

 [Ektopisteos,) which signifies " frequently changing place or habitation." 



Ectopistes migratoria, (Linn.) — ^The Blue Pigeon, Passenger Pigeon, 

 or Wandering long tailed Dove. 



Specific Characters.— Jih^e, upper parts, light greyish blue ; throat, 

 fore-neck, and breast, light brownish red ; abdomen and lower 

 tail coverts, white. Female, with tints much duller, the upper 

 parts inclining to yellowish brown, the lower parts pale 

 greyish, anteriorly tinged with yellowish brown. Male, IG^^, 

 25 ; Female, 15, 23. 7he specific name is from the Latins 

 [Migratorius) Wandering. 

 The family of birds to which our common blue Pigeon belongs, consists 

 of a great many species distributed over all the tropical and temperate- 



