236 Deane, The Passenger Pigeon in Confinement. Ijuly 



article 1 on the Passenger Pigeon says : " A curious change of 

 habits has taken place in England in those Pigeons which I pre- 

 sented to the Earl of Kirby in 1830, that nobleman having 

 assured me that ever since they began breeding in his aviaries, 

 they have laid only one egg." The eggs are usually laid from 

 the middle of February to the middle of September, some 

 females laying as many as seven or eight during the season, 

 though three or four is the average. 



The period of incubation is fourteen days, almost to a day, and 

 if the egg is not hatched in that time, the birds desert it. As in 

 the wild state, both parents assist in incubation, the females sit- 

 ting all night, and the males by day. As soon as the young are 

 hatched the parents are fed on earth worms, beetles, grubs, etc., 

 which are placed in a box of earth, from which they greedily feed, 

 afterwards nourishing the young in the usual way, by disgorging 

 the contents from the crop. At times the earth in the enclosure is 

 moistened with water and a handful of worms thrown in, which soon 

 find their way under the surface. The Pigeons are so fond of these 

 tidbits, they will often pick and scratch holes in their search, large 

 enough to almost hide themselves. 



When the birds are sitting during cold weather, the egg is 

 tucked up under the feathers, and the primaries of one wing are 

 drawn under the body as though to support the egg in its position. 

 At such times the Pigeon rests on the side of the folded wing 

 instead of squatting on the nest. During the first few days, after 

 the young is hatched, to guard against the cold, it is, like the egg, 

 concealed under the feathers of the abdomen, the head always 

 pointing forward. In this attitude, the parents, without changing 

 the sitting position or reclining on the side, feed the squab by 

 arching the head and neck down, and administering the food. 

 The young leave the nest in about fourteen days, and then feed 

 on small seeds, and later with the old birds subsist on grains, 

 beech nuts, acorns, etc. 



The adults usually commence to molt in September and are 

 but a few weeks in assuming their new dress but the young in the 

 first molt are much longer. At the time of my visit the birds 



'The Birds of America, original edition, Vol. V, 1842, p. 52. 



