368 ZOOLOGY. 



able on account of its plumage having a spice-like flavor. One genus of 

 this group {Ptilonopiis) contains several species found in the islands of the 

 Pacific, which have very fine green and red plumage, and are amongst the 

 most handsome of the pigeons. 



Sub-fam. 2. ColumhincB, or Pigeons. Bill moderate, slender, base covered 

 with a tumid skin ; wings moderate, pointed ; tail various, generally ample 

 and truncate ; tarsi short, feet robust. Size various. 



This assemblage contains all the familiar birds of Europe and North 

 America usually known by the names of pigeons and doves, as well as 

 many others only known to inhabit the wilds of Asia and Africa. The 

 European species are the best known, one of which is the original of the 

 domestic pigeon. It is the rock pigeon, Columha livia (pi. 96, Jig. 12), a 

 bird common in many parts of Europe, living and rearing its young in the 

 holes or fissures of rocks. It is abundant in many places on the coasts of 

 England and Scotland. Its manners are represented as very similar to 

 those of the domesticated pigeon ; when in search of food it walks with 

 facility, and has the same manners and gestures during courtship as may 

 be observed in the common bird of the city. The rock dove has the entire 

 plumage plain, dark-lead color, with a white space on its back. All the 

 pigeons known as tumblers, croppers, carriers, fantails, and many others, 

 are considered as being derived from this one species. 



The blue-backed dove, C. cenas (pi. 96, Jig. 13), is a species nearly allied 

 to the preceding. The ringdove (C. palumhus) is the largest of the 

 European species. It has never been domesticated. 



One of the most elegant as well as favorite European species is the 

 turtle-dove, C. lurtur [pi. 96, Jig. 15). It is a plain little bird with greyish- 

 blue plumage, spending the summer in central and southern Europe, and 

 migrating southwards in the autumn. It lives in the woods, and its notes in 

 the spring are peculiarly sweet and plaintive. 



Several North American pigeons belong here, the largest of which are 

 several species found in the Rocky Mountains and the western territory of 

 the United States. But there is no species so universally known, nor 

 which appears in such numbers, as the passenger pigeon or wild pigeon 

 (Ectopistes migratorius), a bird which is distributed throughout the United 

 States. It is a very graceful and handsome plumaged bird, with dark lead- 

 colored plumage above and reddish beneath the body. 



"The multitudes of wild pigeons," says Audubon, "in our woods- are 

 astonishing. In the autumn of 1813 I left my house at Henderson, on the 

 banks of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. A few miles beyond Har- 

 densburgh I observed the pigeons flying in greater numbers than I though* 

 I had ever seen them before, and feeling an inclination to count the flocks 

 that might pass within the reach of my vision, I dismounted, and found 

 that 163 flocks passed in twenty-one minutes. I travelled on, and still met 

 more the further I proceeded. The air was literally filled with pigeons, the 

 light of noonday was obscured as by an eclipse, and the continued buzz of 

 wings had a tendency to lull my senses to repose." 



Another and great favorite is the Carolina or turtle-dove {E. caroli- 

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