KEY WEST PIGEON. 123 



But the most beautiful, perhaps, of all its species 

 is the Key West pigeon, first seen by Audubon 

 at the place after which it is named. " How I 

 gazed," he tells us, " on its resplendent plumage ! 

 — ^how I watched the expression of its richly 

 coloured, large, and timid eye, as the poor 

 creature gasped its last breath. Ah! how I 

 looked at the lovely bird, I handled it, turned 

 it, examined its feathers and form, its bill, its 

 legs, its claws, weighed it, and after a while 

 formed a winding sneet for it of a piece of paper. 

 Did ever Egyptian pharmacopolist employ more 

 care in embalmftig the most illustrious of the 

 Pharaohs, than I did, in trying to preserve from 

 injury this most beautiful of the woodland covers. 

 The brilliant plumage of these birds glitters with 

 the most magnificent ever changing metallic 

 hues, and appears especially splendid when they 

 are seen in flocks of from five to six at a time, 

 performing their low, swift, protracted flight, 

 hovering so closely over the surface of the sea, 

 as to seem on the point of falling into it, or 

 speeding to escape danger, towards the forests. 



Early in the morning they emerge from the 

 thickets to cleanse themselves in the shelly sands, 

 surrounding the numerous islands, which protect, 

 like fortifications, the Florida shore. 



They usually prefer the darkest solitudes for 

 their habitations. 



