208 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



Order COLUMB^. Pigeons. 



Family COLUMBID^. Pigeons. 



Key to the species of COLUMBID^. 



A. Tail not widely tipped with white or grayish white, and not pointed. 



Domestic Pigeon or Dove. 



B. Tail pointed ; widely tipped with white or grajish white. 



1. Back or rump olive grayish brown. Mourning Dove. 



2. Back or rump bluish slate color. Passenger Pigeon. 



Genus COLUMBA Linnaeus. 



* * * * Columba livia Linn. Domestic Dove; Pigeon. 



Plumage : variable, often slaty blue or various shades of slate, often barred 

 and banded with same in different shades on wings, and with glossy or 

 iridescent reflections sometimes on the head and neck of individuals ; some- 

 times pure white or various mixtures of white and slate or bluish slate. 

 Readily recognized in almost any phase from our two native species by the 

 characters given in the key, which, however of course would not suffice to 

 distinguish it from other North American species of the southwest which 

 need never serve as a source of confusion here in Maine. 



County Records. — Under this head it is sufficient to remark that in nearly 

 every one of the larger cities and towns in the State there are Doves living 

 in a state of freedom, belonging to nobody, seeking their food where they 

 will and going their own way. Under these conditions the Dove ranks as 

 an introduced species capable of holding its own and increasing in places 

 where the population is sufficiently large to favor suitable conditions of 

 shelter and a food supply. 



The Doves are most numerous in Bangor, there being thou- 

 sands here which belong to nobody. They feed on grain spilled 

 about the freight cars and manage to pick up a bountiful living 

 in addition to which in the residential portion of the city there 

 are many misguided individuals who systematically feed and 

 coax the Doves to their dwellings which would be well enough 

 if these people were the only ones to suffer the nuisance they 

 call into the neighborhood. 



Unfortunately the Doves spend much of the time on the 

 houses of neighbors in the region, making themselves a general 

 nuisance by disseminating filth and engaging in noisy fights 



