NATURAL HISTORY. 309 



TURTUR (Lat. a Turtle-dove). 



Auiitus (Lat. eared,} the Turtle-dove. 



The TURTLE-DOVE, a bird much revered by poets for its 

 constancy, is only a spring visitor to our shores, arriving 

 towards May, and leaving us about September. The nest is 

 a mere platform of twigs, on which the eggs are laid. The 

 constancy and affection of this bird for its mate has been 

 deservedly celebrated in all ages, though it is not easy to 

 understand why other birds, such as the Raven, whose con- 

 stancy is quite as remarkable, should be deprived of the meed 

 of praise due to them. 



THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 



This extraordinary bird, whose powers of flight are almost 

 incredible, is a native of America, and overspreads the country 

 in countless myriads during the breeding season. It is well 

 that their power of wing is so great, for were the enormous 

 flocks to be confined to one place, they would devour the 

 whole of the grain. PIGEONS have been killed in New York 

 with Carolina rice still in their crops. As their digestion is 

 remarkably rapid, these birds must have flown between three 

 and four hundred miles in six hours, giving an average speed 

 of a mile per minute. 



At the breeding season the overwhelming multitudes of 



