The Passenger or Wild Pigeon 



BY "WILLIAM DUTCHER 



Chairman, Protection Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union 



DESCRIPTION 



Distinguishing Characters. — Size large, length 15 to 17 inches; tail long and pointed, 

 length, 8.50 inches ; resembling in general appearance the Mourning or Carolina Dove, 

 but much larger, and flight said not to be accompanied by a whistling sound. 



Adult Male. — Upper parts bluish slate color, middle of the back browner; sides of the 

 head bluish slate-color of the same shade as the crown, chin somewhat paler; no black 

 mark behind the ears; wing-coverts slaty-blue like the rump, the lertials and their coverts 

 trowner and with black spots ; primaries blackish and externally margined with bro^wnish; 

 ■central pair of tail-feathers blackish, all the others ivhite or pearly vjhite at end half, 

 becoming grayer toward the base, where they are marked with black and often chestnut; 

 underparts rich brownish pink, becoming white on the lower abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts; chin, upper throat and sides of the throat bluish slate-color, sides of the neck like 

 breast but with iridescent reflections spreading to the hindneck ; bill black, feet reddish. 



Adult Female. — Differs from the male in having the middle of the back, crown and 

 wings brownish (the rump, hoivei'er, remaining bluish slate), more black marks in the 

 wings, the chin much whiter, the underparts paler, brownish with little or no pinkish 

 tinge, the iridescence at the side of the neck less pronounced, the central pair of tail- 

 feathers browner, the others somewhat grayer. 



Toung. — Young birds of both sexes resemble in plumage the adult female, but the 

 -feathers of the crown, foreback, sides of the breast and sides of the neck, the wing-coverts 

 and tertials are tipped with whitish or brownish, the primaries are broadly edged and 

 tipped with rusty brown, the outer tail-feathers are grayer. 



Remarks. — The only other member of the order ColumbcC for which the Passenger 

 Pigeon could be mistaken is the Mourning or Carolina Dove. The Pigeon, however, is 

 much larger, the adult male is much pinker below, and in both sexes of the Pigeon the 

 rump is bluish slate instead of brownish as in the Dove, while the Pigeon's outer tail- 

 feathers are broadly tipped with white and the Dove's more narrowly with gray. Further- 

 more, the small, black mark present behind the ear in the Dove is wanting in the Pigeon 

 (see Educational Leaflet No. 2, The Mourning Dove). 



Alexander Wilson, the "Father of American Ornithology," estimated 

 that a flock of Wild Pigeons seen by him near Frankfort, Kentucky, about 

 1808, contained at least 2,230,272,000 individuals. Audubon writes that 

 in 1805 he saw schooners at the wharves in New York City loaded in bulk 

 with Wild Pigeons, caught up the Hudson river, which were sold at one 

 cent each. 



The late George N. Lawrence tells of the great flights of Pigeons that 

 annually passed over New York City as late as 1850. He says, "We could 

 see flocks consisting of from twenty-five to over a hundred Pigeons come 

 sweeping down over the tree tops seemingly at a speed of 75 miles an hour. 

 The flocks followed each other in quick succession. On the present sight 

 of General Grant's tomb was an old country-seat known as 'Claremont.' 

 From the top of this house, during one of these great flights of Pigeons, 



(2I0) 



