166 DISCRIMINATIONS. [CHAP. v. 



are abundantly brought at times to the London mar- 

 ketsall of them shot birds; but the latter have not, in 

 addition, the two black bands on the wing well-defined, as 

 seems to be regularly the case with this variety of Columba 

 intermedia. Moreover, in the English bird, the spotting 

 of the lesser wing-coverts does not occur on the shafts of 

 the feathers, but partly margins each web, excepting 

 near the edge of the wing, where the feathers are un- 

 spotted. I suspect that the wild Rock Pigeons of 

 the south of England are mostly of the kind alluded to, 

 which may be designated C. affinis ; while those of North 

 Britain, and it would seem of Europe generally, are true 

 C. livia." 



We quite agree with this discriminating separation 

 of the blotched Pigeon from the softly-shaded and de- 

 cidedly-barred colouring of the genuine Blue Rock 

 Dove. Some time since this distinction was pointed 

 out to us, and its permanence insisted upon, by an ex- 

 perienced Norwich Pigeon-dealer, named Alexander, 

 who is no longer on earth, and who died in the posses- 

 sion of much unrecorded knowledge on the difficult 

 subject of Fancy Pigeons. The markings on the wing 

 of the Columba affinis somewhat resemble those of the 

 Passenger Pigeon, but no one will surely assert that 

 there is any derivation in this case. Many Pigeon- 

 dealers distinguish the affinis from the Blue RockPigeon, 

 calling it the " Dovehouse," vulgo "Duffer;" but both 

 are equally occupants of Dovecotes, and both are equally 

 ready to assume the wild or feral state, though the for- 

 mer is more commonly found so, at least in the southern 

 half of England. There is reason to believe that in 

 domestication they would breed with each other : but 

 the claims of C. affinis to be regarded as a species de- 



