38 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



BAND^TAILED PIGEON 

 Columba fasciata fasciata Say 



A. O. U. Number 312 



Other Names. — White-collared Pigeon ; Wild Pigeon. 



General Description. — Length, 16 inches. Head 

 and under parts, purjdish-drab ; upper parts, brownish- 

 gray and bluish-gray. 



Color. — Adults: Head, purplish-drab becoming 

 paler and usually more grayish on cheeks and throat, 

 which are sometimes distinctly more grayish in contrast 

 with color of crown ; across nape or upper hmdneck, 

 a bar of white: below this, the whole hindneck, metallic 

 greenish-bronze, the feathers with sharp outlines, pro- 

 ducing a somewhat scaled efifect ; back, shoulders, and 

 front lesser wing-coverts, grayish-brown, very faintly 

 glossed, in certain lights, with bronzy ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts, neutral gray; tail, hrownish-gray with a 

 band of darker gray to dull black across the middle 

 portion separating the darker and lighter gray areas ; 

 rear lesser wing-coverts, middle coverts, and greater 

 coverts, brownish-gray, the greater coverts, narrowly 

 edged with white; inner secondaries, similar but more 

 brownish, without distinct whitish edgings, the outer 

 ones much darker, distinctly though narrowly edged 

 with whitish ; primaries and coverts, dusky, the first 

 narrowly edged with white; under parts, purple-drab 

 usually somewhat clearer or more reddish on under 



parts of body and more grayish on throat, the abdomen 

 (at least the lower portion), anal region, and under 

 tail-coverts, white; under wing-coverts, pale neutral 

 gray ; bill, yellow, the tip black ; iris, pale yellow ne.^t 

 to pupil with outer ring of pink or lilac; eyelids, red; 

 legs and feet, clear cadmium-yellow. Young: Very 

 dififerent in coloration from adults, only the tail, wings, 

 and primary coverts being similar ; no white bar on 

 nape nor metallic feathers on hindneck; crown, hind- 

 neck, sides of neck, and sides of head, brownish-gray, 

 much paler on chin and upper throat ; smaller wing- 

 coverts, margined with paler, as are also feathers of 

 chest; shoulders sometimes suffused with brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A slight, frail platform of 

 small, narrow twigs in trees or bushes or in forests, 

 near water; sometimes on ground with slight nesting 

 material. Eggs : I or 2, porcelain-white. 



Distribution. — Western United States north to 

 southwestern British Columbia and Montana, from 

 Pacific coast to Rocky Mountains ; east to Montana, 

 western North Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, and 

 western Texas ; southward over nearly the whole of 

 Mexico and through the highlands of Guatemala to 

 northern Nicaragua. 



Drawing by R. Bruce Horsfall 



BAND-TAILED PIGEON (; nat. si?el 

 A fine bird, in danger of becoming extinct 



The most striking example of the disajipear- 

 ance of a species in American nattiral history is 

 that of the Passenger Pigeon. The Band-tailed 

 Pigeon of the West might have followed in the 

 path of the eastern bird within a few years, had 

 our people not been aroused to its necessity for 

 protection. The enactment in 1913 of the Federal 

 law for the protection of migratory birds was 

 the most important step ever taken in saving 

 this as well as other species of American birds. 

 Under the provisions of this act, the Band-tailed 

 Pigeon has been removed entirely from the list 

 of game birds that can be killed until September 

 I, igi8. 



The Band-tailed Pigeon, often called \\"\\A 

 Pigeon, is sometimes mistaken for the Passenger 

 Pigeon. It ranges up and down the Pacific coast 

 with an occasional record as far east as Colo- 

 rado and western Texas. The habit of the 

 Pigeon collecting in large bands in certain sea- 

 sons has made it possible in the past for hunters 

 to kill enormous numbers. This, coupled with 

 the fact that the bird does not reproduce itself 

 rapidly, usually laying but a single egg, is suffi- 

 cient reason whv it can be exterminated readily. 



