374 NouTir A.Mi;i:ii'AN }fijaxs. 



clii.stt'i'iii;4 Olio aliovc iiii"tln'i', aiul lliu trei's tliciiisi'lvo.s iit liisl killwl us com- 

 jik'tt'ly iis if ginllod liy iiii iixo. 



Olio of (lie l)iv(^cliii<,'-i)liici's visited by Wilson, not far from Slu'lhyvilk-, 

 Ky., stivtc'iir(l tliion^li tliu forest in iioariy a noilli and soutli diroctioii. 

 'I'liis was si'vcial miles in lu'cadtli, an<l ujiwanls of forty miles in extent, 

 in tins immense tract nearly every tree was fiiniislied with nests wheriiver 

 there were liranches to aceomniodato them, lie was informed by those who 

 had sought to ]iliinder the nests of the s(juai)s, thai tlu- iioiso in the woods 

 was .so great as to terrify their horses, and that it was ditlieult for one per- 

 ■soii to hear another sjieak. The yroniid was strewed with broken limbs, eggs, 

 and yoiMig l'igeon.s. Hawks wt-re .sailing about in great numbers, wliilo from 

 twenty feet u])wards to the toi)s of the trees there v as a jtcrpetual tumult 

 of crowding and ihittering multituiles of I'igeoiis, their wings resounding 

 like thunder, and mingled with the frequent crash of falling trees. In one 

 instance he counted ninety nests in a siiigli! tree. 



AVhen on his way from Shelliyville to Frankfort, AVilson witnesscil an im- 

 mense llight ()f these liirds, and was astonished at tiieir apiiearance. They 

 were Hying with great steadiness and ra]>idity in .several strata deep and very 

 close together. From right to left, as far as the i-yo could reach, this vast 

 procession extended its immense breadth, seeming everywhere equally 

 crowded. F'or more than an hour by the watch he stood and ob.servcd 

 this prodigious ])roce.ssion, wliicli, instead of liminishing, seemed rather to 

 increase both in numbers and rapiditj'. Three hours laier, as he was enter- 

 ing Fraiiklbrt, the living torrent above his head was as numerous and ex- 

 tended as when iirst observed. Wilson com])uted the number of Figeons in 

 this flight at over two thousand two hundred million.s. 



The most southern jioiiit at which this I'igeoii is known to breed, as given 

 liy Wilson, was in the Choctaw country, in MLssissij)))!, in latitude 3:^°. 



Mr. I'idgway olitained a single sjiecimen of this sjiecies in the West Hum- 

 boldt Mountains, in September, 1807. It was a young bird, and had bceu 

 feeding on the berries of a s]>eeies of Coi'nua. 



The eggs of the Wild Pigeon vary considerably in length, and also some- 

 what in breadth. They average about 1.45 inches in length and 1.05 in 

 breadth. They are white in color, have an o\Til shape, and are equally 

 rounded at both ends. 



SrmwMiLV ZENAIDIN^. 



Char. T,ir.<i .'stoiit. Icntrllicnod ; ahviiys lonu'or than tlio latoml too?, aiifl entirely 

 without fcatliiTs; tho tiliial joint u.>iially dcnuiU'il. Tarsus sonioliuies with iiexa^'onal 

 scales anteriorly. Tail-featliers sometime.^ foiirteeii. 



This sulifamily is readily distinguished from tho ])receding by the longer 

 and more denuded tarsi, the feet being much better fitted for a terrestrial 

 life. The following sections belong to it : — 



