WHITE. HEADED PIGEON, ' 447 



and its leaves, I thought, correspond with the colour of the birds, while 

 the brilliant hue of its flowers forms a strong; contrast. 



CoLUMBA LEUcocEPHALA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 281. — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. 



p. 594 Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 119. 



White-Headed Pigeon, Columba leucocephala, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. 



vol. ii. p. 15. fig. 1 Nuttall, Manual, part. i. p. 625. 



Adult Male. Plate CLXXVII. Fig. 1. 



Bill straight, of ordinary length, rather slender, compressed ; upper 

 mandible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, where it is straight in 

 its dorsal outline, convex towards the end, with a sharp-edged, declinate, 

 rather obtuse tip ; lower mandible with the sides sloping outwards, the 

 angle near the end, the edges sharp, the tip rounded. Nostrils medial, 

 oblique, linear. Head small and compressed, neck of ordinary length, 

 body full. Feet short, strong ; tarsus very short, rounded, with two an- 

 terior rows of large hexagonal scales ; toes scutellate above, marginate, 

 the hind-toe smallest, the two lateral nearly equal, the middle toe much 

 larger ; claws of moderate size, compressed, arched, rather acute. 



Plumage rather compact above, blended beneath, on the hind neck 

 strong, with metallic gloss. Wings long, the third quill longest, the 

 second almost equal, the first not so long as the fourth, the second, third, 

 fourth, and most of the other primaries sinuate on the outer web, towards 

 the end ; the secondaries broad and rounded. Tail rather long, even, 

 of twelve broad slightly rounded feathers. 



Bill carmine at the base, bluish-white at the end. Iris yellow. Feet 

 carmine ; claws greyish-yellow. The general colour is dusky greyish- 

 blue, paler beneath, the quills and tail-feathers darker. The whole up- 

 per part of the head is pure white ; the upper part of the hind neck rich 

 chocolate-brown, the lower part and sides green, changing to gold-colour, 

 each feather margined externally with deep black. 



Length 14| inches, extent of wings 23^ ; bill along the back j^g, alono- 

 the edge ^i ; tarsus 1^^, middle-toe and claw 1||. 



Adult Female. Plate LXXVII. Fig. 2. 



The female differs from the male only in having the tints a little 

 duller and lighter. 



Length 14 inches. 1 



