BIRDS OF NEW YORK 381 



Family COLUMBIDAB 



These are the true pigeons, the Passenger pigeon of America belonging to the subfamily Ectopis- 

 tinae. The Ground doves and their allies according to Sharpe and other British authorities, should 

 be placed in a separate family, the Peristeridae, distinguished largely by the bare tarsus, longer than 

 the lateral toes. In New York the latter are represented by the Mourning dove and the 

 little Ground dove. 



Ectopistes migratorius (Linnaeus) 

 Passenger Pigeon 



Plate 4j 



Columba migratoria Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. 1:285 

 Ectopistes migratorius DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 196, fig. 167 



A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 315 



ectopistes, Gr. iKT<mi,<TTri<: , wanderer; migratd'rius , Lat., migratory 



Description. Tail long, wedge-shaped, of twelve tapering feathers; 

 wings sharp pointed, the first primary longest; head small; bill short; tarsi 

 feathered part way in front, shorter than middle toe and claw, outer toe 

 longer than inner. Male: Upper parts slaty blue, including the whole 

 head, slightly shaded with olive-brown on wings and center of back; sca- 

 pulars and wings with a few black spots; back and sides of neck iridescent 

 with gold and purplish red; wing feathers and central pair of tail feathers 

 blackish, the former with rusty white edgings; sides and flanks bluish; 

 foreneck and under parts "deep vinaceous rufous" or light purplish chestnut, 

 becoming whitish on the crissum and under tail coverts; tail feathers, 

 except the central pair, bluish at the base fading to whitish at the tips, 

 with black and chestnut spots near their bases; bill black; feet lake-red; 

 bare skin about the eyes orange-red. Female: Under parts much duller, 

 more olive -brownish above and grayish below, fading to whitish behind. 

 Young: Duller still, the feathers of upper parts with whitish edgings 

 and the wing feathers with rufous edgings. 



Length 15-17.25 inches; extent 23-25.5; wing 8-8.5; ^^il 8-8.75; 

 tarsus i; middle toe and claw i. 25-1. 35; bill .7-.75; weight 12 ounces. 



The history of the wild pigeon in New York State, as told by early 

 writers, or as handed down by pioneer settlers and remembered by persons 

 now living, would fill a volume. The first explorers in New Netherlands 

 and in the lake country all speak of the wild pigeon as among the most 

 interesting and important of the native beasts and fowls. Wassenaers, 

 about 1625, states that they were so numerous at New Amsterdam, "that 

 they shut out the sunshine," [Documentary History of New York, 4: 29]. 



