177 



PASSENGER TURTLE. 



EC topis tes migrator ia. SWAINSON. 

 PLATE XIX. 



Columba migratoria, Auct. Passenger Pigeon, Wils. Amer. 

 Ornith. pi. 44, fig. l.Aud. Ornith. Biog. p. 319, pi. 62. 



AMONG the few groups of the Columbidae already 

 characterized, is that of Ectopistes, a genus astitut- 

 ed by Mr Swainson, for the reception of the Colum- 

 ba migratoria and Columba Carolinensis of authors, 

 birds which, though nearly allied in other characters, 

 are distinguished from the rest of the turtles by the 

 greater length of their wings and tail, those essential 

 organs of motion, the extra development of which 

 necessarily indicates an economy and mode of life 

 different from that of those species where these 

 members are comparatively short, and differently 

 proportioned. The subject of our present Plate is a 

 native of the North American Continent, where it 

 occupies a very extensive range between the twen- 

 tieth and sixtieth degrees of N. latitude, and is not 

 less remarkable for living at all times, even includ- 

 ing the period of incubation, associated in flocks of 

 countless myriads, than for its migrations, which, 



VOL. ix. M 



