ZOOLOGY. 217 



ORDER IV. 11 A O UllJii b.— The Scratching Birda. 

 Family COLUMBIDAE — The Pigeons. 

 COLUMBA FASCIATA, Say. 



Band-tailed Pigeon. 



Columba fasciata, Sat, Long's Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 10.— Bon. Amer. Orn. I, 1825, 77 ; pi. viii.— Ib. Syn. 1828, 



119.— Ib. List, 1838, &c.— Baird, Gen. Eup. Birds, p. 397. 

 Chloroetias fasciala, Bonap. Conspectus, II, 1854, 51. 

 Columba monilis. Vigors, Zool. Beechey's Voyage, 1839, 26 : pi. x. 

 Sp. Cii. — Above olivaceous, tinged with ash, changing on the wing coverts to bluish ash, of which color are the hinder part 

 of the back, rump, and basal portion of the tail. The terminal third of the tail is whitish brown, with a tinge of ash 

 succeeding a narrow bar of dusliy. Head all round, sides of neck and under parts, including tibia, purplish violet ; the 

 middle of the abdomen, anal region, and crissum, whitish. Tibia and throat tinged with blue. Quills brown, narrowly 

 margined with white. A conspicuous narrow half collar of white on the nape ; the feathers below this to the upper part o 

 the back metallic golden green. Bill and feet yellow ; the former black at tip. Iris carmine, bordered with gold color ; bill 

 yellow and black ; feet yellow. 



Female similar, with less purple ; the nuchal collar of white obsolete or wanting. Somewhat smaller than the male. 

 Length, 15 to 16.50 inches ; extent, 25 to 26 ; wing, 8.80 ; tail, 6.10. 

 Hob. — From Kocky mountains to Pacific coast ; south to New Leon, Mexico. 



The band-tailed pigeon arrives at Columbia river in April, and frequents all the forests of 

 the Territory until the end of October, when they retire south. They keep about the borders 

 of prairies and clearings, and frequently do much damage to fields of grain, though never 

 found in such immense numbers as the wild pigeon east of the Mississippi. In June they lay 

 two white eggs, about the same size as the house pigeons, on the ground near streams or 

 openings, without constructing any nest. During summer they feed on wild cherries and other 

 fruits, wild peas, which are very abundant, and probably later depend on acorns and hazel 

 nuts. Their cooing is much like that of the common pigeon. I have not seen them east of 

 the Cascade range. — C. 



The band-tailed pigeon is a very common bird in Washington Territory, especially west of 

 the Cascade mountains; I saw but one flock containing 5 individuals east of those mountains. 

 In 1856 the first birds of this species that arrived in the spring made their appearance about 

 May 15, which is about the customary time every year for their arrival. One or two indivi- 

 duals are first seen, and within two or three days thereafter the main body of the migration 

 follows. A small number remain throughout the summer and breed; the rest retire further 

 north. Those that remain generally make their nests in thick fir forests near water. They 

 subsist during the summer on wild cherries and other berries, and later in the season, since 

 the country has become settled, upon grain. 



About the first week in September large flocks congregate on stubble fields in the vicinity 

 of Fort Steilacoom, and for two or three weeks thereafter their numbers are daily augmented 

 by arrivals from the north. Some flocks of these pigeons that I saw in September, 1856, must 

 have contained at least one thousand individuals. I am told that in the cultivated district on 

 the Cowlitz river, at the same season, they are in still greater numbers. By the 5th of October 

 of the year 1856 all had suddenly disappeared, with the exception of a few stragglers, generally 

 young birds. In flying, the flocks, I think, are not quite as compactly crowded as those of the 

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