3i8 PIGEONS. 



Sub-Family II. 

 THE PIGEONS PROPER. COLUMBIN/E. 



General Characteristics. — Bill moderate, slender, the basal portion covered with 

 a soft tumid skin, and the apical part hard, and slightly vaulted and acute at the 

 tip; the nostrils forming a longitudinal slit in the fore part of the soft basal portion 

 of the bill ; the wings moderate and pointed ; the tail of various lengths, and usually 

 rounded ; the tarsi generally short ; the toes lengthened,' the lateral ones mostly 

 equal, and the hind toe about the length of the tarsus. 



These birds are widely distributed throughout the world. 

 During the summer months they are generally seen in pairs, but 

 on the commencement of winter they congregate in flocks, and 

 migrate to more southern latitudes. I\Iost of the species feed on 

 buckwheat and acorns, for which they frequent those localities 

 that furnish the best supply ; and when this kind of nourishment 

 fails, they resort to cultivated fields. For this purpose they take 

 their way early in the morning from their roosting-places in the 

 woods, and, when satisfied, fly to rest on the nearest trees till the 

 hour of their evening meal, after which they again retire to the 

 woods. Some species always inhabit rocky places and precipitous 

 cliffs, especially those on the sea-coasts of Great Britain and Asia. 



The type of this sub-family — 



The Ring-Dove {Cohimba Palinnbns), called also the Cushat and the 

 Wood Pigeon, is the largest of the European species, some specimens measur- 

 ing seventeen inches in length. It inhabits the woods both of this country 

 and of the continent of Europe, but is most abundant in the South, bemg only 

 a summer visitor to the more northern countries, such as Norway and Sweden. 

 It is particularly fond of thick plantations of firs, in which it delights to build ; 

 and here its tender cooing notes may be heard throughout the spring and 

 summer. The food of these birds consists of young leaves and seeds of various 

 kinds, according to the season of the year. In spring and summer they sub- 

 sist principally on the tender leaves of growing plants, and often commit great 

 ravages in fields of beans and peas. Spring-sown corn is attacked by them 

 both in the grain and the blade, and as soon as young turnips have put forth 

 their second pair of leaves, they, too, become objects for devastation. As the 

 season advances, they visit the corn-fields, especially those in the neighbour- 

 hood of their native woods. They are very partial to oily seeds of any kind. 

 At the approach of autumn they assemble in small flocks, and resort to oak 

 and beech woods, where acorns and beech-mast, swallowed whole, aftbrd an 

 abundant and nourishing diet. In winter the small flocks unite to form larger 

 ones, so large, indeed, in severe seasons, that it becomes probable that their 

 numbers are considerably augmented by arrivals from colder climates. 



This pretty dove is one of the commonest of our British birds, breeding in 

 almost every copse of trees, and inhabiting the larger forests in great numbers. 

 At the approach of the breeding season, and during its continuance, its soft 



