68 



ORDER III. 

 COLUMB^E. 



COLUMBINE BIRDS PIGEONS OR DOVES, 



THESE are birds which have, in all ages, claimed much of 

 the attention of mankind ; and the poets have chosen them 

 as the type of all that is gentle, amiable, and affectionate. 

 The mournful sound of their voices, the attachment of the 

 pair to each other and to their young, the form, gloss, and 

 colour of the birds, and the evolutions which they perform on 

 the wing, all give them an interest to the lover of nature ; 

 while the rapid rate at which they breed, and the flavour of 

 their flesh, have made them of consideration in an econo- 

 mical point of view. They are, however, very voracious 

 feeders, and while the ripe grain and pulse are on the ground, 

 probably destroy more than they are worth; but at other 

 seasons they are not without their uses. 



The domesticated ones, of which there are many varieties, 

 though all agreeing in their general character, are usually 

 called pigeons, and the wild ones doves. It is with the latter 

 only that we are in the meantime concerned. 



The characters of the orders are : the bill of moderate 

 length, covered at the base with a membrane in which the 

 nostrils are pierced, and the upper mandible curved at the 

 point ; the tail containing twelve feathers, and the feet 

 having three toes before and one behind, free their whole 

 length, and all articulated to the extremity of the tarsus, so 

 that they are equally adapted for walking on the ground, for 



