BULLETIN 



HETSTITTJTE. 



VOL. 16. SALEM : APRIL, MAT, JUNE, 1884. Nos. 4, 5, 6. 



PIGEONS AND THE PIGEON FANCY. 



BY WM. G. BARTON. 



THE pigeon family, in the widest sense, includes a mul- 

 titude of species, many living in the tropics and display- 

 ing the gorgeous colors characteristic of the birds of hot 

 climates. But the wild species of pigeons which inhabit 

 Old and New England are few in number. In the former, 

 we find four species, viz. : the Blue Rock Dove, which 

 we shall speak of again, the Ring Dove, which is the com- 

 monest wild pigeon of England, the Stock Dove once 

 considered the stock whence all domestic pigeons and 

 the Turtle Dove. In New England are two species only : 

 the common Wild or Passenger Pigeon, and the Carolina 

 Dove. The beautiful little Collared Turtle Dove, called 

 also Ring Dove and Laughing Dove, common in both 

 countries as a pet, is not to be confounded with these. 



Science has turned her scrutinizing eye sharply upon 

 pigeons ; and Mr. Darwin took the domestic pigeon for 

 his chief typical illustration of the variability of do- 

 mestic animals, and made them contribute a surprising 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN, VOL. XVI. 4* (59) 



