378 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
show an affinity in several ways to the Raptores, or birds of 
prey, as well as in structure to the Galline. 
I. ECTOPISTES 
(A) micratorius. Wild Pigeon. Passenger Pigeon. 
(In Massachusetts, most common as a migrant). 
(a). About sixteen inches long. ' Tail-feathers twelve.. 3, 
above, dull-blue; beneath, dull red, paler behind. Sides of 
the neck highly metallic. Back, and part of the wings, olive- 
tinged. Shoulders black-spotted. Primaries, and long middle 
tail-feathers, black (or dark); the former variously edged. 
Outer tail-feathers white or bluish; their inner webs black, and 
chestnut, at the base. 9, much duller above, and blue or gray 
beneath. ; 
(b). The nest, a frail structure of twigs, is built on some 
branch in the woods. In April or May, according to latitude, 
one or two eggs are laid. These are elliptical, and pure white, 
and measure about 1°50 & 1:10 of an inch. 
(c). No birds could more appropriately be chosen as em- 
blems of their country than the Wild Pigeons. They occur 
throughout a large part of North America, and often in such 
prodigious numbers, that single companies have been estimated 
to contain fifty times as many pigeons as there are now inhab- 
itants in the United States. They wander almost continually 
in search of their food, which consists chiefly of grain, seeds, 
becch-nuts, acorns, and berries. They possess great power of 
flight, and move with a rapid beating of the wings at the rate 
of sixty miles an hour or often more. On alighting, they flap 
the wings violently, as if to break the force of their impetus. 
If frightened from their roosts (to which they frequently resort 
several nights in succession), they rise with a loud roar. When 
on the ground, they invariably walk, but with no little grace. 
Many of their habits may be traced in those of tame pigeons, 
and in the appearance of a single individual there is often a 
striking analogy to that of a hawk. In many places they have 
become comparatively rare through the excessive persecution 
of man, in addition to the raids made upon them by birds of 
