376 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



wings, ana upper surface of the tail, which is even slightly tinged with this color ; 

 the entire head, except the vertex, the sides of the neck, and the under parts general- 

 ly, light brownish-red, strongly tinged with purple on the breast, becoming lighter 

 behind, and passing into brownish-yellow on the anal region, tibia, and under tail 

 coverts; sides of the neck with a patch of metallic purplish-red; sides of body and 

 inside of wings clear light-blue ; wing coverts and scapulars spotted with black, 

 mostly concealed, and an oblong patch of the same below the ear; tail feathers seen 

 from below blackish, the outer web of outermost white, the others tipped with the 

 same, the color becoming more and more bluish to the innermost, which is brown, 

 seen from above, there is the same graduation from white to light-blue in the tips ; 

 the rest of the feather, however, is blue, with a bar of black anterior to the light tip, 

 which runs a little forward along the margin and shaft of the feather ; in the sixth 

 feather the color is uniform bluish, with this bar; the seventh is without bar; bill 

 black ; feet yellow. Female smaller, and with less red beneath. 



Length of male, twelve and eighty-five one-hundredths inches ; wing, five and 

 seventy-five one-hundredths ; tail, six and seventy one-hundredths inches. 



This beautiful and well-known species is distributed 

 throughout New England as a summer resident. It is 

 more rarely seen in the more northern sections than in the 

 southern; but it breeds in all these States. It arrives 

 from the South early in spring, sometimes by the 10th of 

 March. On its first appearance, it is found in small, loose 

 flocks of five or six individuals, which frequent old stubble- 

 fields and orchards, where they feed on scattered grains and 

 the seeds of various weeds. They also sometimes associate 

 with domestic doves in the poultry yard, as I have witnessed 

 on several occasions. 



About the middle of May, they separate into pairs, and 

 commence their duties of incubation. The nest is placed in 

 a forked, horizontal branch of a tree, sometimes in the 

 orchard, usually in a grove of pines or in a swamp. It is, 

 like the nest of the Wild Pigeon, a loose, frail structure, in 

 which the female deposits two eggs, which are pure-white 

 in color, and usually nearly oval in form. 



A great number of specimens in my collection, from dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, vary from 1.20 by .85 to .98 by 

 .82 inch. The size most often found is about 1.12 by .80 

 inch. Two broods are reared in the season. 



About the last of July, the old birds and young collect in 

 flocks, and frequent grain-fields, where they feed upon the 



