Passenger and other Pigeons 419 



of the wild nutmeg, but also on other fruits and berries. It is often seen in im- 

 mense numbers, but is difficult to approach except at night, when it resorts to the 

 mangrove swamps to roost. It also builds its nest among the mangroves, having 

 a preference for those overhanging the water, and like its near relative appears 

 to lay only one egg. 



The Top-knot Pigeon (Lophokemus anlarcticus), distinguished at once by 

 its conspicuous crest, is confined to eastern Australia and Tasmania, where in 

 places it is very abundant. About fifteen inches in length, it has the general 

 plumage gray, with the sides of the head and the occipital portion of the crest 

 rust-red, while the iris is fiery orange, the bill rose-red, and the feet grayish brown. 

 It is strictly arboreal, never descending to the ground or even to low, shrub-like 

 trees. It feeds entirely on fruits, such as the wild fig and the berries of the 

 cabbage palm, and may often be seen visiting its feeding grounds in flocks of 

 many hundreds. 



New Zealand Wood Pigeon. Of the last genus (Hemiphaga), character- 

 ized as already pointed out by the tail of twelve feathers, we may only mention 

 the New Zealand Wood Pigeon (H. novce-zealandice) of New Zealand and the 

 Auckland Islands, the other two species of the genus being confined to Norfolk 

 and Chatham islands. It has a total length of about twenty-one inches, the 

 plumage being coppery purple above and white below, with the head, neck, 

 and breast coppery green, and the tail greenish black. Like its relatives, it is 

 strictly arboreal, preferring the densest foliage, where it seeks its food of various 

 fruits, berries, and tender shoots. At certain seasons it is much esteemed for 

 food by the natives and is snared or speared often in large numbers; but as 

 its flesh is affected by the nature of its food, it is only taken when it is known 

 to be eating certain fruits, such as the so-called ti-palm. 



The Wood, Long-tailed, and Passenger Pigeons (Subfamily Columbines). 

 The members of the present family agree with those of the last in having the 

 tarsus generally shorter than the middle toe, but they differ from them in having 

 the soles of the feet normal, that is, the skin is not expanded along their sides 

 except that of the hind toe, which is thus expanded, while the tail is uniformly 

 of twelve feathers. They number about one hundred and ten species, distributed 

 among some ten genera and three fairly well marked groups, in the first of 

 which the tail is shorter than, or at least not longer than, the wing. Passing 

 over the genus Gymnophaps with which its single species (G. albertisii) is con- 

 fined to New Guinea, we come to the typical genus Columba, with its more than 

 seventy universally distributed forms, among them the Rock Dove (C. lima), from 

 which the domestic breeds of Pigeons have come. They are compactly built 

 birds, mainly under fifteen inches in length, with the tarsus never feathered for 

 more than half its length, generally much less, while the first primary is consid- 

 erably longer than the sixth. Of the vast number of forms the United States 

 possesses but three, the best-known being the Band-tailed Pigeon (C. fasciata) 

 of the western United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, 

 whence it ranges south through Mexico to the highlands of Guatemala. It is 

 lead-colored above, becoming browner on the back and bluish on the rump, 



