166 



and in spring separate, each selecting a particular 

 spot, where he struts and invites the female by 

 crowing and clapping his wings. The female makes 

 a very inartificial nest upon the ground, in long grass 

 or thick underwood, and not unfrequently in fields 

 of clover. She lays from ten to fifteen eggs, of a 

 pale greenish brown, sometimes greyish white, and 

 occasionally yellowish grey. In some instances 

 the Pheasant, and more rarely the black Grouse, 

 has been crossed with the domestic fowl, and some- 

 times the female assumes the plumage of the male. 



PIGEON, PASSENGEE. 



COLUMBA MIGRATORIA, Lin. 



This remarkable bird inhabits a wide and exten- 

 sive region of North America, spreading over the 

 whole of Canada, extending to the Gulf of Mexico 

 southwards, and westward to the Rocky Mountains, 

 which appear to be the limit of its range in that 

 direction. In almost every part of the United 

 States this species occasionally visits and breeds. 

 One or two specimens have been captured in 

 Britain-, and it has been found in Norway and 

 Eussia. The most remarkable characteristic of 

 these birds is their habit of associating together, 

 both in their migrations and during the period of 

 incubation, in such prodigious numbers as 



