ORDEil GALLINiE. 271 



very marked connexion with any other. It forms a distinct 

 group, to which the name of order has been sometimes given, 

 and sometimes that of family. We shall not trouble our 

 readers with the various allocations of these birds by ornitho- 

 logists, nor do we deem it necessary to enlarge on the generic 

 characters in the text. 



The birds of this genus, which contains more than one 

 hundred species, inhabit all the warm and temperate regions 

 of the globe. The species with short and robust bill are 

 found throughout the whole extent of Africa, in the islands 

 of the Indian Archipelago, in New Holland, and in the 

 islands of the South Sea. None of those which belong to 

 the division Vinago, have been found in Europe, North Asia, 

 or either America. The common pigeons, with moderate bill, 

 are the most generally extended through both continents. 

 Those with slender bill and long legs are proper to the 

 climates of the New World, of Africa, and of Asia, but are 

 not found in Europe. Only four species of the common 

 pigeons are found wild in this last part of the globe ; from 

 one of them, the biset, as is supposed, are descended all the 

 various races which we find in a state of domestication. 



The pigeons are diurnal and quiet birds, living only on 

 pulpy fruits, berries, and grains, and but very seldom on 

 insects and snails. They are eminently monogamous. The 

 male and female concur in the construction of the nest, and 

 fix it, according to the species, sometimes on the summits of 

 the largest trees, sometimes in the bushes, and even on the 

 ground, and sometimes in the cavities of rocks. This 

 nest, rather rudely composed of small branches and leaves, 

 is very wide, and usually contains but two eggs, and some- 

 times four. In one species only of the gallinaceous pigeons, 

 the female lays six or eight. The male and female sit on the 

 eggs, alternately, or together. They have two or three 

 broods in the yeai-, and after the last, they quit the climates 



