424 Craig, Emotion in the Passenger Pigeon. [bet. 



thology. He was a pioneer — but pioneer work is necessarily 

 rough and imperfect, and some of it must of course be superseded. 

 It would be a mistake, especially in the case of an extinct species, 

 to let incorrect statements stand, no matter how deeply we may 

 venerate their author. I shall quote all that Audubon says (Orni- 

 thological Biography, I, pp. 319-326) upon the expressions and 

 mating habits of the species, and shall correct it where known to 

 be wrong. He begins by describing a certain mode of nuptial 

 flight, said to be very similar to such flight in the domestic pigeon; 

 unfortunately, the birds in Professor Whitman's aviary could 

 never be allowed outside and hence had no opportunity to display 

 such flight. After describing the nesting-places, Audubon then 

 proceeds: "At this period the note of the pigeon is a soft coo-coo- 

 coo-coo, much shorter than that of the domestic species. [This 

 probably refers to what I have called the kecho or vestigial coo.] 

 The common notes resemble the monosyllables kee-kee-kee-kee, 

 the first being the loudest, the others gradually diminishing in 

 power. [Not always so inflected. Corresponds to the "scolding," 

 etc., in the present paper.] The male assumes a pompous demeanor 

 and follows the female whether on the ground or on the branches, 

 with spread tail and drooping wings, which it rubs against the part 

 over which it is moving. [?] The body is elevated, the throat 

 swells [? probably this is assumed by analogy from other pigeons], 

 the eyes sparkle .... Like the domestic pigeon and other species, 

 they caress each other by billing, in which action, the bill of the 

 one is introduced transversely [wrong] into that of the other, and 

 both parties alternately [wrong. In no species of pigeon does the 

 female feed the male.] disgorge the contents of their crop by re- 

 peated efforts. [Probably there is no disgorging, even by the male, 

 in this species.] These preliminary affairs are soon settled, and 

 the pigeons commence their nests in general peace and harmony. 

 [On the contrary, there must have been ceaseless quarrelling.] .... 

 The eggs are two in number. [Undoubtedly wrong.]. . . .During 

 incubation, the male supplies the female with food. [Not true.] .... 

 It is a remarkable fact, that each brood generally consists of a male 

 and a female. [Impossible, since there is only one egg.]" The 

 last statement is manifestly carried over from the domestic pigeon, 

 and even of this species it is not so true as is generally supposed, 



