304 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



systematic relations are not at all certain. Outwardly they appear 

 to be intermediate between the grouse and the pigeon, but structur- 

 ally they more nearly approach the conditions seen in the pigeons. 



The Columbae include the pigeons and doves, and the dodo and 

 solitaire. The dodo is a recently extinct, aberrant, not to say 

 grotesque and gigantic pigeon. A funnier looking bird could not 

 readily be imagined, if we may credit the pictorial records of it made 

 by travelers of the seventeenth century. That these apparent cari- 

 catures were founded on fact is evidenced by the bones of the bird 

 found in pools. It was a short, plump bird, with an eagle-like beak 

 and ridiculously inadequate plumage, wings, and tail. 



The true pigeons constitute a very large and widely distributed 

 group. Perhaps the most interesting and significant of the species 

 are the rock pigeon, the passenger pigeon, and the great crowned 

 pigeon. 



The rock pigeon or rock dove (Columbia livid) is the species from 

 which nearly all of the fancy breeds of domestic pigeons have been 

 derived; and when fancy breeds are allowed to interbreed freely, the 

 offspring tend to revert to the characters of the wild ancestor. The 

 common mongrel pigeon of the city streets represents fairly closely 

 the characteristics of the wild rock pigeon. The passenger pigeon a 

 century ago existed in numbers almost incredibly large. Wilson, a 

 pioneer American ornithologist, estimates that in a single flock seen 

 by him near Frankfort, Kentucky, there were over two billion indi- 

 viduals. In describing similar conditions, Henderson says that "the 

 air was literally filled with pigeons, the light of noonday was obscured 

 as by an eclipse," and that their wings made "a noise like thunder." 

 "Nothing," says Nuttall, "can exceed the waste and desolation of the 

 nocturnal resorts (of these pigeons); the vegetation becomes buried 

 by their excrement to the depth of several inches. The tall trees for 

 thousands of acres are completely killed, and the ground completely 

 strewed with massive branches torn down by the clustering weight of 

 the birds which have rested upon them. The whole region for several 

 years presents a continued scene of desolation, as if swept by the re- 

 sistless blast of a whirlwind." At the present time it is a question 

 whether there are any passenger pigeons still living. An isolated 

 report comes in now and then that someone has seen a specimen, but 

 there is usually some uncertainty about the identification. The fate 

 of this fine species of bird well illustrates the ruthlessness of man when 



