THE BIRDS 225 



upon which they live. The legs and feet are stout, and 

 fitted for scratching or for running through grass and 

 underbrush. Protective colors also prevent detection, but 

 if close pressed they rise into the air with a rapid whirring 

 of their stubby wings, and after a short flight settle to the 

 ground again. During the breeding-season the male usu- 

 ally mates with a number of hens, which build rough nests 

 in hollows in the ground, where they lay numerous eggs. 

 The young are precocial. 



The quail or bob-white (Colinus virginianus) and the 

 ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) occur throughout the 

 Eastern States. Over the same area the wild turkey 

 (Meleagris gallopavo) once extended, but is now almost 

 extinct. The prairies of the middle West support the 

 prairie-hen (Tympanuclius americanus), and the valleys 

 and mountains of the far West are the home of several 

 species of quails, some of which are beautifully crested. 1 

 --211. Pigeons and doves (Columbse). The pigeons and 

 doves belong to a small yet well-defined order, with upward 

 of a dozen representatives in the United States. They are 

 of medium size, with small head, short neck and legs, and 

 among other distinguishing characters frequently possess a 

 swollen, fleshy pad in which the nostrils are placed. In 

 former years the passenger-pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius\ 

 inhabiting eastern North America, was probably the most 

 common species in this country. Their flocks contained 

 thousands, at times millions, of individuals, which often 

 traveled hundreds of miles a day in search of food, to return 

 at night to definite roosts a trait which enabled the hunter 

 to practically exterminate them. At present the mourning- 

 or turtle-dove (Zenaidura macroura) is the most familiar 

 and wide-spread of the wild forms. The domestic pigeons 

 are all descendants of the common rock-dove (Columla 

 livid] of Europe, the numerous varieties such as the tum- 

 blers, fantails, pouters, etc., being the product of man's 

 careful selection. In the construction of the nest, usually 



