In the Woods. 203 



and fall. In my early studies of birds in 1870, and before, there were Wild 

 Pigeons about Cambridge in Massachusetts. Close to the town, in the vi- 

 cinity of Mount Auburn, a few bred every year. Later 

 Passenger Pigeon. . . ... ' _. . 



Ectopistes migratorius m 1875, mthe vicinity of Princeton, New Jersey, there 



were many Wild Pigeons passing in flocks, especially in the 

 fall. These were fragments of the great hosts of these birds, which once 

 formed such a feature of the bird fauna of Eastern North America. Most 

 of these small bands are but memories in the minds of the students and lovers 

 of birds in those days. Personally I have seen but eight Wild Pigeons in the 

 last fifteen years, though constantly working in fields where they were once 

 abundant. They still exist in what would to us seem large flocks in Michi- 

 gan and some other points in the West and North. But it seems the con- 

 sensus of opinion that their extermination is almost completed and that with 

 the bison and paroquet they will soon be relegated to the position of ex- 

 terminated elements in our fauna. Those who care for accounts of their 

 wonderful migrations and breeding grounds early in this century, must con- 

 sult Audubon and Wilson. 



The adult Wild Pigeon is about sixteen inches and a half long, and in 

 appearance somewhat like a Mourning Dove. The upper parts are slaty 

 blue, having iridescent metallic areas on the back and sides of the neck, 

 The central pair of tail feathers are dusky and the others are dark at their 

 bases, shading into an area of slaty blue, which in its turn shades into the 

 pure white of the tips. The chest and breast are reddish fawn color, chang- 

 ing into a more pinkish shade on the sides. The belly and feathers below 

 the tail are white. The female resembles the male but has less iridescent 

 sheen, and is duller colored generally. Immature birds lack the iridescence 

 and are still more subdued in tone, each feather of the breast and back being 

 tipped with grayish white and those of the wings edged with reddish brown. 



The nests are rude flat structures of twigs and sticks placed in branches 

 of trees. One or two white eggs are laid ; they are nearly an inch and a half 

 long and somewhat over an inch in their smaller diameter. 



The Wild Pigeon was formerly common throughout Eastern North 

 America, as far north as Hudson's Bay. It bred at various points, generally 

 in great communities, and wintered in the more southern part of the range. 



The Quail-Doves are a group of tropical pigeons that live in the dark 

 woods on or near the ground. They are silent and stealthy in their habits 



