150 LAND BIRDS 
your feet, you could not find them were your eyes ten- 
fold sharper. I have groped carefully on hands and 
knees among them, and actually touched one before I saw 
it at all. For the desert hides its secrets well, and the 
little grouse have learned to trust to it for safety. 
These broods unite with others in the same locality, 
forming coveys of a hundred or more individuals, and as 
cold weather advances, they retreat to their snow shel- 
ters at the timber edge. This is the time the hunters 
go forth to seek them, for the flesh of the young is not 
yet tainted with the bitterness of sage diet, and in that 
barren region game is scarce. 
312. BAND-TAILED PIGEON. — Columba fasciata. 
Famity: The Pigeons, or Doves. 
Length : 15.00-16.00. 
Adult Male: Upper parts grayish brown, browner on the back, bluer on 
the rump, high neck bronzy green, crossed by narrow collar of white ; 
head and under parts metallic purplish, becoming pink on belly and 
gray on the sides ; belly whitish ; end of tail crossed by broad band 
of pearl-gray, bordered by black on the upper edge; wing-coverts 
narrowly edged with white. 
Adult Female: Similar to male, but duller and grayer. 
Young: Without white on nape; upper parts paler; under parts gray, 
washed with brown. 
Geographical Distribution: Western United States from Rocky Moun- 
tains to the Pacific, south through Mexico to Guatemala, through 
the Transition zone. 
California Breeding Range: Mountains of Southern California. 
Breeding Season ; May, June, July, and August. 
Nest: A thin platform of sticks, in trees or bushes near water ; some- 
times on the ground. 
Eggs: 2; white. Size 1.50 x 1.20. 
THe Band-tailed, or White-collared, Pigeon is irregu- 
larly distributed from the Rocky Mountains to the 
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