226 



VERTEBRATA. 



Inwir parts black, glossed with grccn ; tiicy ily in pairs or small flocks, feed on fruits and berries, 

 roost on the branches of trees, and build their nests on the rocks. The natives keep them as 



tame pets. 



^ THE DIDID.E. 



Genus DIDUS : Didu.<t. — This, the only genus 

 of the group, inchuk'd the Dodo, D. incptus^ 

 now extinct. This was larger than a swan, 

 sometimes weighing fifty pounds; the bill was 

 Long and strong ; the feet short and stout ; the 

 wings, furnished only with soft, decomposed 

 plumes, were short, and incapable of enabling 

 the bird to fly ; the tail was ornamented with 

 a similar tuft of feathers ; the general color a 

 blackish-grav ; the plumes of the wings a light 

 ash-color. When the island of Mauritius was 

 discovered in 1598, this bird was quite abund- 

 ^f^^^'^ anC there, as well as in the neighboring island 

 "V^js^//"^' of Bourbon ; but it has been gradually extir- 

 pated, and now some paintings, made of it long 

 THE DODO. ago — two heads, a foot, and a few feathers — are 



the only existing memorials of this remarkable bird. 



On the little island of Rodriguez, near the island of Mauritius, some bones have been discov- 

 ered, which are supposed to have belonged to three allied, but all probably extinct species, one of 

 them the Dodo, another the Solitaire, Didus solitarius, twice the size of that bird, and the third 

 Didus Nazarenus, smaller than either. 



THE GOURIDJE. 



These birds, called Ground-Pigeons, of which there are several genera, are found in the warm 

 parts of both hemispheres, and some are of considerable size. The Goura Crowned Pigeon, 

 Goura coronata, is nearly of the size of a turkey, lives in flocks, feeds on seeds, and rarely perches 

 on trees. It is kept in the poultry -yards of Java, where it is a native, but does not breed in Eu- 

 rope or America. The Nicobar Pigeon, Caloenas Nicoharica, is an exceedingly beautiful spe- 

 cies, the tail-feathers resembling those of the domestic cock. Its general color is purplish -black ; 

 the feathers of the neck long, pointed, and glossed with blue, red, and gold; the wings are blue, 

 the back golden-green, the tail white. It is found in India. The Bronze-winged Ground 

 Dove, Phaps chalcoptera, is fifteen inches long, and coos so loud that its note is compared to the 

 bellowing of a cow ; found in the Australian islands. The Ground Dove of the United States — 

 Columba passerina of Audubon; Charnaepelia j)oisserina of Swainson — is a beautiful species, six 

 and three-quarter inches long; color, light purplish-red, above; reddish below; found in the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States. 



THE COLUMBID.'E OR TRUE PIGEONS. 



Of these birds, called Pigeons and Doves, there are manv species ; they live in wooded places, 

 and roost on trees ; they feed usually on the ground, picking up seeds of all kinds, young herb- 

 age, and roots ; in autumn some eat fruits. We can only notice, very briefly, the prominent 

 species. They lay two eggs, and soften the food for the young with a milky substance in their 

 crops. 



Genus COLUMBA : Columba. — This includes the European Stock-Dove — Pigeon sauvage 

 of the French — C. ffi'nas, thirteen inches long ; general color gray; breast red. It frequents 

 mountainous districts. The Ring-Dove, C. palumbus — Ramiei- of the French, Ringel-Taube 

 of the Germans — is seventeen and a half inches long, and is one of the largest of the European 

 wild pigeons; general color gray; neck beautifully iridescent. In England it is called Wood- 

 Pigeon, Cushat, and Queest. 



The RocK-DovE, C. livia, is naturally wild, inhabiting high rocks near the sea-coast, in the 



