244 AVES ORDER COLUMBIFORMES. 



considered the types, the tail is always composed of twelve feathers. The 

 soles of the feet are not so broad as in the fruit -pigeons, and, according to 

 Count Salvadori, only the hind-toe has any expansion on the 

 The True sides. Only four genera of Columbidce are admitted by the 

 Pigeons. above-named author, viz. Gymnophaps, represented by a 

 Family single species from South-Eastern New Guinea, G. albertisi, 



Columbidce. named after the famous Italian naturalist, D'Albertis, who 

 discovered it ; Columba, with fifty-eight species and a cosmo- 

 politan range ; Nescenas, from Mauritius, with its single species, JV. mayeri; 

 and Turturozna, peculiar to Africa, with five species. 



It is not necessary to dilate on the characteristics of the ordinary pigeons, 

 In the woods, the wood-pigeon or ring-dove is, in many parts of its range, the 

 mildest and shyest of birds, but in confinement it makes the tamest of pets, 

 and can be fed by children in the gardens of Paris, and is now so civilised 

 that it is one of the features of St. James' Park in London. The stock- 

 dove (C. cenas) is a more retiring bird, and nests in holes of trees or of old 

 buildings, while the rock-dove (C. lima) frequents caves on the sea-coast. 

 From the latter are believed to have sprung all our numerous forms of do- 

 mestic pigeon. All the species of the African genus Turturcena are some- 

 what rare, and little is known of their habits. 



All these are Eastern birds, with a very long tail, exceeding the wing in 

 length. Only four genera are known : Turacceiid, of Celebes and Timor ; 

 Mdcropygia, the dominant form, with about thirty species, 

 The Long-Tailed mostly of a rufous coloration, with many bands ; Rein- 

 Pigeons. wardtcenas, with its three species, inhabiting the Moluccas 

 Sub-family from Celebes, south to the Bismarck Archipelago ; and 

 MacropyyiincK. lastly, Coryphcenas of the Solomon Islands. Both the latter 



genera have short and somewhat hooked bills. 



The Macropygice are commonly called cuckoo-doves, on account of their 

 barred plumage. They are forest-birds, feeding on fruits, and building a 

 slight nest, in which two eggs are laid. 



This sub-family is peculiar to North America, and only one species (E. 



migratoria) is known. It has occasionally visited Great Britain. In its native 



country it is remarkable for the enormous flocks which pass 



The Passenger- on migration, and occupy a breeding area of great extent. 



Pigeons. One observer states that he saw a flight of these pigeons five 



Sub-family miles long and a mile in breadth, while their nests were found 



Ectopistince. j n nearly every tree for a distance of twenty-eight miles. As 



with the Carolina parrot, however, constant persecution is 



rapidly diminishing the numbers of this interesting bird, and its nesting-area 



is no longer so widely extended as in former times. 



This family of pigeons has rather a longer leg than those we have been 

 previously discussing, the length of the tarsus. being equal to, or exceeding, 

 that of the middle toe. The tail-feathers vary in number 

 The Ground- from 12 to 20, according to the different genera. The 

 Pigeons. Zenaidince are exclusively American, the Peristerince are 

 Family American and African ; the Geopeliiiue are American, Aus- 

 Peristeridce. tralian, and Indo-Malayan; while the Phabince, GeotrygoninoR, 

 and Ccdcenadince are Malayan and Australian. There is no- 

 thing very peculiar about the habits of these ground-doves, but the remaining 

 sub-family Turturince, or turtle-doves, is one of the largest in the whole family 

 of pigeons, and contains about thirty species, of which our British turtle-dove, 



