PIGEONS 



289 



and white have their turn. But 

 what variety in each of them ! 

 What bUies, for instance, from 

 light to dark, gray blue, purple 

 blue, silvery blue, etc. ! And 

 yellow contributes also to stripe, 

 spot, and ring, with a \arietv of 

 shades tliat amaze those who 



.\ Loft or t am \ I'k.i ii\:- 



pigeons, it is well to refer to the commoner 

 kinds, — the ringdove, wood pigeon or cushat, 

 the turtledove, and the laughing dove. The first 

 is found wherever fir trees grow. It is bluish 

 gray, with two white rings around its neck. 

 The second, the turtledove, is rather smaller, 

 brownish gray in color, and the rings, four in 

 number, are black with white edges. The third, 

 or laughing dove, is a species of turtledove liv- 

 ing in the sandy deserts of eastern Africa and 

 taking the color of the sand. As for the color of 

 pigeons in general, blue, black, red, gray, yellow. 



TlUi CXKRHIR PiGEO.V 



undertake to distinguish breeds and species. 

 White also plays an important part. Some- 

 times the head is all white, or merely the breast, 

 wings, neck, or tail, as in the capuchin pigeon. 

 Let us begin a very limited list with pigeons 

 of a single color and mention, first, the beautiful 



SCOTI 11 Pl(,Kf)NS 



