THE WILD PIGEON. 373 



SUB-ORDER COLUMB^E. 



The basal portion of the bill covered by a soft skin, in which are situated the 

 nostrils, overhung by an incumbent fleshy valve, the apical portion hard and con- 

 vex ; the hind toe on the same level with the rest ; the anterior toe without mem- 

 brane at the base; tarsi more or less naked; covered laterally and behind with 

 hexagonal scales. 



FAMILY COLUMBIDJE. THE DOVES. 



Bill horny at the tip; tail feathers twelve, only occasionally fourteen; heaa 

 smooth. 



Sub-Family COLUMBINE. 



Tarsi stout, short, with transverse scutellae anteriorly; feathered for the basal 

 third above, but not at all behind ; toes lengthened, the lateral decidedly longer than 

 the tarsus ; wings lengthened and pointed ; size large ; tail feathers twelve 



This section of doves embraces the largest North-American species, and among 

 them the more arboreal ones. 



ECTOPISTES, SWAINSON. 



Ectopistes, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 362. (Type Columba migratoria, L.) 



Head very small; bill short, black; culmen one-third the rest of the head; tarsi 



very short, half covered anteriorly by feathers ; inner lateral claw much larger than 



outer, reaching to the base of the middle one; tail very long and excessively 



cuneate; about as long as the wings; first primary longest. 



This genus is readily distinguished from the other Columbines by the excessively 

 lengthened and acute middle feathers. It formerly included the Columba Caroli- 

 nensis ; but this, with more propriety, has been erected into a different genus, and 

 will be found in the next section. 



ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIA. Swainson. 

 The Wild Pigeon; Passenger Pigeon. 



Columba migratoria, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 285. Wils. Am. Orn., I 

 (1808) 102. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 319; V. 561. 



Ectopistes migratoria, Swainsou. Zool. Jour., III. (1827) 355. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Tail with twelve feathers; upper parts generally, including sides of body, head, 

 and neck, and the chin, blue; beneath, purple brownish-red, fading behind with a 



