390 



COLUMB.E.- 



-BIEDS.- 



-PlGEONS. 



numbers as they return to their roosting-plaoe in the 

 evening, and they afford an abundant supply of food to 

 both beasts and birds of prey. Audubon's account of 

 a nocturnal battue of these birds, at which he assisted. 



The Passenger Pigeon (Kctopistes migratorius). 



is most animated and interesting, but too long for 

 insertion here. 



The Passenger Pigeon — fig. 122 — has long, pointed 

 wings, and a large, wedge-shaped tail. Its colour 

 above is bluish-gray ; the sides of the neck are reddish 

 chestnut, with brilliant golden-green, and purple tints ; 

 the wings are lead-gray, and the coverts exhibit a few 

 black spots ; the chin is bluish-gray, and the remainder 

 of the lower surface chestnut, becoming paler on the 

 belly, and leaving the vent and lower tail-coverts white ; 

 the two middle tail-feathers are blackish bro\vn, and 

 the remainder white, more or less tinged witli gray and 

 lead colour, especially towards the base. In its general 

 characters it much resembles our common Turtle 

 Dove. Its length is from sixteen to seventeen inches. 



THE TURTLE DOVE [Turtur auritus), an abundant 



species in Euroiie, Asia, and Africa, is a summer visitor 

 to this country, in the southern parts of which it is not 

 uncommon. It is of a light brown colour above, and 

 still paler beneath, with the belly and vent white ; the 

 top of the head is of a bluish-ash colour; on each side 

 of the neck there are four rows of black feathers, tipped 

 with white, which form four oblique bars ; the wing- 

 coverts are dark brown, with broad reddish-brown 

 margins ; the two central tail-feathers are dark brown, 

 tipped with white ; the remainder are paler, and tlie 

 outermost on each side has its external web white. 

 The Turtle Dove builds a slight nest in a bush or tree, 

 usually about eight or ten feet from the ground. In 

 this the female lays two eggs; and in this country 

 the birds produce only one brood in the season, but 

 in warmer climates they are described as laying 

 twice. The voice of tliis species is a tender and 

 mournful cooing. 



THE COLLARED TURTLE DOVE (Turtur risorms), 

 a native of the warm regions of Africa and Asia, is a 

 smaller species than the preceding, measuring only 

 about ten inches in length. It is of a very pale and 

 delicate graj-ish-brown colour, with a sort of black 

 collar surrounding the back of tlie neck. This bird 

 has been domesticated, or at least bred in captivity, 

 from tiiiio immemorial, es]iecially in the East. 



THE GRACEFUL GROUND-DOVE {G(opclia eiincnta), 

 the Turtle Dove of the colonists of Swan River, is 

 an inliabitant of most parts of Australia, where it is 

 a general favourite. It is a very elegant little bird, 

 measuring only eight inches in length, including a long 

 tail ; its general colour is a cinnamon-brown above, 

 and a delicate gray beneath ; the latter is also the colour 

 of the head and neck. The wing-coverts and scapulars 

 are marked with numerous white spots encircled with 

 black lines, and the outer graduated tail-feathers are 

 white except at the base. The eye is red, and sur- 

 rounded by a rather broad circle of naked red skm. 

 This elegant little pigeon lives principally on the ground, 

 searching for the seeds wliich constitute its food. Its 

 note is said by Mr. Gilbert to reseraljle the distant 

 crowing of a cock. 



THE MAGNIFICENT FRUIT-PIGEON [Carpnpliaga 

 magiiijka) — Plato 17, fig. 03 — one of tlie most splendid 

 of its tribe, is found abundantly in the south-eastern 

 parts of Australia, especially in the brushes about the 

 Macquarrie and Clarence rivers. It measures about 

 sixteen inches in length, and has the head and neck 

 of a delicate pale gray colour, and the whole of the 

 upper surface and wings rich golden-green, with bright 

 yellow patches upon the greater wing-coverts and ter- 

 tiaries, forming an irregular band across the wing ; the 

 tail is bronzed green ; from the chin a deep purple line 

 passes down the centre of the throat, and joins a large 

 patch of the same rich colour, which occu]iies tlie breast 

 and belly, and is followed behind by a band of orange- 

 yellow covering the lower part of the flanks, the 

 vent and the thighs, whilst the imder tail-coverts are 

 ,greenish-yellow. It is a shy bird, but has a hoarse, 

 loud, and monotonous note, by which its presence is 

 often betrayed. Its food consists chiefly of wild figs 

 and the fruits of palms, in search of which it passes 

 nearly the whole of its time on trees. 



