178 



USEI-TL r.IRDS 



'I'he Wild Pigeon 



ever, to pi'dxe this and he dismissed the idea as absunl.* The 

 glory of discoxering the existence (if it does exist) of this former 

 summer resident still remains for some aspiring" ornithologist. 



There is no need of confusing these two birds. The wild 

 pigeon is I6I4 inches long: the ground dove only 11 '4 inclies. 

 ap])roximately. The upper parts of tlie former are dove-colored or 

 l)luish-slate with metallic reflections on the sides of the neck of 

 the male, while the upjier parts of the dove are grayish-l)rii\\ n. 

 line nests of both consist of small twigs loosely put together and 

 containing in each case two white eggs. 



*In this connection it ma.\' he noted that Francis L. Palmer of Stillwater, 

 Minn., a student of hirds, claims quite emphatically to have ohserved one of 

 these t)irds on May 31, 1915, near the above named town, which is in the south- 

 eastern part of the state. His observations were published in "Bird Lore" for 

 July-August, 1915, page 289. 



