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THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 



COLUMBA MIGRATORIA, LiNN. 

 PLATE LXII. Male and Female. 



The Passenger Pigeon, or, as it is usually named in America, the 

 Wild Pigeon, moves with extreme rapidity, propelling itself by quickly 

 repeated flaps of the wings, which it brings more or less near to the body, 

 according to the degree of velocity which is required. Like the Domestic 

 Pigeon, it often flies, during the love season, in a circling manner, sup- 

 porting itself with both wings angularly elevated, in which position it 

 keeps them until it is about to alight. Now and then, during these cir- 

 cular flights, the tips of the primary quills of each wing are made to strike 

 against each other, producing a smart rap, which may be heard at a dis- 

 tance of thirty or forty yards. Before alighting, the Wild Pigeon, like 

 the Carolina Parrot and a few other species of birds, breaks the force of 

 its flight by repeated flappings, as if apprehensive of receiving injury 

 from coming too suddenly into contact with the branch or the spot of 

 sround on which it intends to settle. 



I have commenced my description of this species with the above ac- 

 count of its flight, because the most important facts connected with its 

 habits relate to its migrations. These are entirely owing to the necessity 

 of procuring food, and are not performed with the view of escaping the 

 severity of a northern latitude, or of seeking a southern one for the pur- 

 pose of breeding. They consequently do not take place at any fixed 

 period or season of the year. Indeed, it sometimes happens that a con- 

 tinuance of a sufficient supply of food in one district will keep these birds 

 absent from another for years. I know, at least, to a certainty, that in 

 Kentucky they remained for several years constantly, and were nowhere 

 else to be found. They all suddenly disappeared one season when the 

 mast was exhausted, and did not return for a long period. Similar facts 

 have been observed in other States. _ 



Their great power of flight enables them to survey and pass over an 

 astonishing extent of country in a very short time. This is proved by 

 facts well known in America. Thus, Pigeons have been killed in the 

 neighbourhood of New York, with their crops full of rice, which they 



