314 BRITISH BIRDS. 



f[)c 



THE various families which constitute this order 

 are distinguished by shades and gradations so 

 minute, as to exceed all description. By much the 

 larger portion are the willing" attendants on man, 

 and depend on his bounty, seldom leaving the 

 dwellings provided for them, and only roaming 

 abroad to seek amusement, or to procure sub- 

 sistence ; but when we consider the lightness of 

 their bodies, the great strength of their wings, 

 and the amazing rapidity of their flight, it is a 

 matter of wonder that they should submit even 

 to a partial domestication, or occupy those tene- 

 ments fitted up for the purpose of breeding and 

 rearing their young. It must be observed, how- 

 ever, that in these they live rather as voluntary 

 captives, or transient guests, than as permanent 

 or settled inhabitants, enjoying a considerable 

 portion of that liberty they so much delight in : 

 on the slightest molestation they will sometimes 

 abandon their mansion with all its conveniences, 

 and seek a solitary lodgement in the holes of old 

 walls or unfrequented towers; and some ornith- 

 ologists assert, that they will even take refuge in 

 the woods, w r here, impelled by instinct, they re- 

 sume their native manners. 



The varieties and intermixtures of this tribe are 

 innumerable, and partake of all those diversified 

 hues which are the result of domestication. The 



* This order is composed of Columba alone. 



