258 COLUMBIDE. 



thirds bluish grey, then a narrow band of lighter grey, the 

 ends lead grey ; the basal portion of the outer Aveb of the out- 

 side tail-feather on each side almost white ; chin bluish grey ; 

 sides of the neck glossy with green reflections ; breast purple 

 red ; belly, flanks, vent, under wing and under tail-coverts 

 french-grey ; legs and toes red ; claws brown. 



Whole length of a female thirteen inches. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the wing, eight inches and three- 

 eighths ; the first and fourth quill-feathers nearly equal in 

 length, and a little shorter than the second and third, which 

 are also nearly equal, and the longest in the wing. 



The male and female difi^er but little in plumage ; but the 

 male is the larger bird, and his colours are more brilliant. 



Young birds before their first moult have no shining me- 

 tallic feathers in the neck, and they are also without any 

 spots on the last tertial feathers of the wing, or on the wing 

 covert above. 



The feeling in favour of Doves and Pigeons in general, 

 referred to at page 251, receives further confirmation from the 

 habits of the natives of other countries. A writer in the 

 fourth volume of the Naturalist, says, " The Common Pigeon 

 swarms in the city of Petersburg and the country ; it is es- 

 teemed sacred, and called God's Bird by the Russians, from the 

 circumstance of the Holy Spirit assuming that form when it 

 descended upon our Saviour. To kill and eat it is considered 

 an act of profanation. I had one day an opportunity of ob- 

 serving, myself, how the respect for the Pigeon prevails 

 amongst the lower orders. I shot six, away from a village, at 

 one shot, and brought them home, with the intention of ob- 

 taining that master-achievement of modern cookery, a pigeon- 

 pie ; when I threw them on the table, a Russian servant who 

 was near, after several ejaculations against my impiety and 

 cruelty, snatched up one of the dead birds, and bursting into 

 tears, commenced kissing and fondling it." 



