158 Birds of Oregon and Washington 



Pigeons of the East once darkened the sky for 

 hours in their flight, and broke, with their weight, 

 the limbs of trees upon hundreds of acres of 

 forests. The bird is now comparatively rare. 

 The reason for this fearful, cruel, and wasteful 

 destruction, was largely the habits of the birds 

 in living the year around in one immense colony, 

 thus falling an easy prey to men who lived by 

 their capture and death. It is said that the 

 Band-tailed Pigeons nest in something like small 

 colonies, remain together in moderate-sized flocks 

 after the nesting-season, are sometimes seen in 

 numbers innumerable, and are often slaughtered 

 by the score. Let the people of the Northwest 

 have a care, before it is too late. 



PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION. As above, in general 

 description ; with white collar on back of neck ; tail, 

 square, with a black band one-third from the end. 



Summer resident. 



VAUX'S SWIFT. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION : 



On the wing, appears to be black, with short tail 

 and long wings. It has a rapid flight, and is 

 to be seen on cloudy days and near nightfall. 



Length, a little more than 4 inches. 



