COLUMBA. BIRDS. 271 



riorly, and upper part of the breast violet-purple ; abdomen, thighs, 

 and under tail-coverts ochraceous. 16 inches long. New Hol- 

 land. Tern. PI. Col. 163. 



C. migratoria, Lin. Migratory Pigeon. Tail cinereous ; neck green- 

 golden purple ; wings with ovate spots in the middle ; breast ru- 

 fous, and abdomen white. 14 inches long. Inhabits N. America. 

 Shaw, xi. 93. 



The Migratory Pigeon of North America exists in immense flocks, which in their 

 excursions sometimes cover a space of two miles in length, and a quarter of a mile 

 in breadth. They travel in the morning and evening, and repose about mid-day 

 in the forests, especially in those which abound in oaks, of the acorns of which they 

 are very fond. Although they always shape their course in the same general direc- 

 tion, they seldom observe the same line of march for two seasons in succession, pro- 

 ceeding sometimes by the maritime, and sometimes by the more inland regions. 

 Their passage, whether in spring or autumn, lasts from fifteen to twenty days, after 

 which they are met with in the centre of the United States. When in the southern 

 districts, they keep always in flocks, but when in the north, they pair, disperse, and 

 nestle in the vast forests of Nova Scotia, Canada, &c. where they commit serious 

 havock on the newly- sown fields. Large quantities are annually killed. An indi- 

 vidual of this species was shot in Fife in 1826. 



C. coronala,(Lophyrus, Vieill.) Great Crowned Pigeon. Body bluish, 

 shoulders ferruginous, with a white band on the wings ; orbits 

 black ; crest composed of long feathers of a loose texture, erect. 

 Size of a turkey. Inhabits India. Shaw, xiv. pi. 19. 



ORDER X. -GALLING. 



Bill short, convex, in some genera covered by a cere ; upper 

 mandible bending from its base or only at the point ; nostrils 

 lateral, covered by a membrane, naked or feathered ; tarsus 

 long ; three toes before, united at their base by a membrane, 

 hind toe articulated on the tarsus above the junction of the 

 anterior toes. 



The birds which form this order are of a bulky and heavy form. The greater 

 number have short wings, which renders them incapable of distant or long continu- 

 ed flight Their principal food consists of grain and seeds, though some add to 

 those roots, herbs, and the buds of trees, and most of them devour insects. Their 

 nest is in most cases placed on the ground among bushes or herbage, without 

 much art. Some members of the order are polygamous ; others pair every season. 

 Their eggs are numerous, and the young when first excluded are covered with soft 

 down, and are immediately able to follow their parent and feed themselves. They 

 scratch the ground with their feet in search of food, and have the peculiar habit of 

 rolling themselves in the dust. The chief part of our domestic poultry is derived 

 from the birds of this order. 



Gen. 1. PAVO, Lin. 



Bill naked at the base, convex above, thickened, bent down to- 

 wards the tip ; nostrils open ; cheeks partially denuded ; tail- 

 coverts very long ; tail of eighteen feathers, elongated, broad, 

 capable of being expanded like a fan, and ocellated ; tarsus 

 longer than the middle toe, with a conical spur ; head crested. 



