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. * ' * - " 



COIUMBjE. 



The principal external characters of the order are the follow- 

 ing : The upper mandible consists of two parts ; the tip, which is 

 swollen, hard, and convex, and the basal portion, which is soft, 

 being covered by skin in which the longitudinal slit-like nostrils 

 open. Toes always four in number, and on the same level ; no 

 web between the toes, but the sole is considerably expanded in the 

 more typically arboreal forms, and much narrower in those that 

 seek their food on the ground. Aftershaft rudimentary or want- 

 ing. Spinal feather-tract well defined on the neck and forked in 

 the interscapular region. Primaries 11 ; fifth secondary wanting 

 (aquincubital). The number of tail-feathers varies. 



The palate is schizognathous, the nasals schizorhinal ; basi- 

 pterygoid processes present (except in the extinct Dodo). Cervical 

 vertebras 15. The sternum has generally two deep notches on 

 each side of the posterior margin. Furcula U-shaped. 



Deep plantar tendons as in Gallince. The ambiens muscle, as 

 in Parrots, is sometimes present, sometimes absent; the fern oro- 

 caudal, semitendinosus and accessory semitendinosus are always 

 present, and the accessory f emoro-caudal in all except the Australian 

 genus Lopholcemus. The oil-gland is nude or wanting ; ca?ca and 

 gall-bladder are present in some genera, absent in others. Both 

 carotids are present. 



All Pigeons are phytophagous, the majority living on fruit or 

 seeds. They are monogamous and pair for life. The majority 

 make a nest on trees, a few on rocks or in holes ; the nest is a 

 platform of twigs or grass, without lining, simple in structure and 

 very loosely put together. The eggs in the great majority of 

 species are two in number. Some genera, as Carpophaga, Calaenas, 

 and Alsocomus, lay a single egg. The eggs are white, oval, and 

 usually glossy. The young emerge from the egg naked and unable 

 to run, and they do not go through a downy stage ; they remain 

 in the nest for a long time, and are fed by the parents with a 

 secretion from the crop. 



An excellent Catalogue of the Pigeons by Count T. Salvadori 

 has just been published by the British Museum; from this work 

 the majority of the above details are taken. The classification of 

 the order is, however, an extremely difficult subject ; the anatomical 

 data are not satisfactory and often conflict with the external 

 characters. The order is divided into two suborders, of which one 

 (Did'i) is now extinct ; the other is divided by Salvadori, external 

 characters only being regarded, into five families, three of which 

 have Indian representatives. I am, however, unwilling to accord 

 the rank of families to groups only distinguished by details of 

 plumage and small differences in the shape of the foot ; and I shall 

 accordingly leave all Indian Pigeons and Doves in a single family. 



