V °!8 XVI ] Williams, Color in Relation to Inheritance. 319 



been handed down, almost unchanged, from primitive times ; like 

 the Highland costume, which, among ourselves, still survives as a 

 memorial of the past. 



The Pigeons are a very homogeneous order of about four 

 hundred and fifty species, and it is not difficult to believe that 

 they all sprung from some primeval pigeon-like bird. 



They are divided by Count Salvadori l into three principal 

 families — the Tree Pigeons (Treronidae), Typical Pigeons (Col- 

 umbidae), and Ground Pigeons (Peristeridae). There are, also, 

 two small and peculiar families : the Crowned Pigeons (Gouridae) 

 with six species, inhabiting New Guinea and some neighboring 

 islands; and the Tooth-billed Pigeon (Didunailus), which forms 

 a family by itself. These last two families represent an older type 

 than the others, and are more nearly allied to the extinct Dodo, 

 which used to inhabit Mauritius. 



The legs of the Crowned Pigeons are covered all over with 

 small hexagonal scales. Birds with this kind of leg covering are, 

 usually, of ancient type, for it is a more reptilian style than the 

 broad scutella: which most of them possess. 



Gray is the general color of the Crowned Pigeons, with some 

 chestnut markings on the wing-coverts, and a band of chestnut 

 across the back, or the breast. 



The Tooth-billed Pigeon has chestnut on the back and wings, 

 though the gray has nearly disappeared, and only a slight tinge of 

 it remains round the sides of the lower neck and on the mantle. 



The Dodo, and its near ally, the Solitaire, were both gray 

 birds; the one is described as having been "an ash-color," and 

 the other "a brown gray." 



Now, in almost every Pigeon, we find some trace of these 

 primitive colors : some gray, usually on the head or neck ; some 

 chestnut, or other reddish shade, on the bend of the wing, or 

 across the back or breast. 



In the richly colored group of Tree Pigeons, variation has 

 apparently got the upper hand, but even in a species like Swain- 

 son's Fruit Pigeon (Ptilopus s7vainsoni) a little gray still remains 

 on the head, and the beautiful green feathers of the breast are 



Brit. Mus. Cat. of Birds. Vol. XXI. 



