THE EDINBURGH 



JOUENAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



AND OF 



THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



N^ 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1835. 



ZOOLOGY. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE PIGEONS. 



Pigeons constitute a numerous family of the Gallinaceous order. Possessing a wider 

 gcograpliical range than almost an)' other tribe of birds, they are found in every quarter 

 of the globe, from the southern boundai'y of ice, to the confines of the Arctic Circle. 

 The general structure of the bill and feet being in all exceedingly characteristic, they 

 form a well-marlced family ; and though modern naturalists have separated them into 

 several sections and sub-genera, yet they all have such an affinity of form, as not easily 

 to be mistalicn. Their sizes are exceedingly various. The Goura or Crowned Pigeon 

 (fig 0), the largest of the tribe, measures about twenty-eight inches in length; while 

 the Ground Dove (fig. 7) is not larger than a sparrow, being only six inches and a 

 half from the furthest extremity of the bill to the point of the tail. 



The Domestic Pigeon, and Ring Turtle Dove, have been known to mankind from 

 the remotest period of history, and are both frequently alluded to in the Sacred '\^''rit- 

 ings. From the affectionate regard exhibited by the sexes, the ancients considered the 

 dove as an emblem of love, .ind hence it was frequently depicted as an attendant in 

 their representations of Venus and Cupid. 



Many species of this tribe arc remarkable for their powers of flight, and the short 

 pa.ce of time in which they perform long journeys is almost incredible. To ascertain 

 with some degree of exactness the speed of the Carrier Pigeon, a gentleman, some 

 years ago, sent one from London by the coach to a friend at Bury St Edmunds, desiring 

 that it might be set at liberty two days after its arrival, precisely as the town-clock 

 struck nine in the morning. This request was strictly attended to, and the pigeon 

 arrived at the Bull Inn, in Bishopsgatc Street, at half-past eleven o'clock of the same 

 mornino", having thus flown seventy-two miles in two hours and a half. 



During the breeding season, pigeons associate in pairs, and pay court to each other 

 with their bills. Both the male and female assist in the labour of incubation. The 

 female lays two eggs, and the young ones produced are generally a male and a female; 

 these are attended to by both the parent birds. At first they are fed with a substance 

 resembling curd, secreted within the crop, the coating of wliich becomes thickened 

 and enlarged. The process is somewhat analogous to the secretion of milk within 

 the mammffi of quadrupeds. If the state of the crop be examined during incubation, 

 it will be found to have a glandular and irregular appearance. Upon IdlUng an old 

 pigeon, when the young are just protruding from the egg, it will be observed to have 

 within this cavity small pieces of white curd mixed with its ordinary food of pease, 

 barley, and other grains. It is for a short time that the young are fed with this sub- 

 stance ; for, on the third day it is administered along with a mixture of common food, 

 and in eight or nine days the secretion of curd completely falls in the old birds, from 

 which time they are capable of ejecting common food alone. This singular disposition 

 of Nature is very remarkable, and we cannot but admire the final cause by which the 

 pigeon is assigned the power of casting up this curd alone, although other food be in 

 the crop at the same time, 



The plumage of nearly the whole species is of a close texture; its tints are various, 

 and its lustre remarkable. 



Fig. 1 — The Blue-headed Ground Pigeon (Cohimha Cijanocephala) is a native 

 of Jamaica, Cuba, and the Southern American Islands. It seldom resorts to trees, 

 but is generally found upon the ground, where it forms its nest, and incubates. It 

 runs with astonishing rapidity, and its habits are retired aud solitary. Having but 

 limited powers of flight, it seldom rises to a great height above the ground, but usually 

 skims from one place to another, in neai'ly the same manner as the common Land 

 Piail. Its size nearly approaches to the common Partridge. 



Fig. 2. — The Zenaida Pigeon (Columha Zenaida.) This beautiful bird has been 

 but recently discovered. It is about ten inches in length, and a native of Florida, in 

 the United States of America. These pigeons also are generally found on the ground, 

 in which situation they amuse themselves in dusting and seeking for gravel, which they 

 swallow to assist in digesting their food. 



Fig. 3. — The Purple-crowned Pigeon (C. Purpurata) is a native of the South Sea 

 Islands, in many of which it greatly abounds. The first specimens which reached this 

 country were brought from Tonga- Taboo. Their geographical range extends as far 

 south as New Holland. This bird is from nine to ten inches in length, and frequents 

 woods, feeding on different kinds of fruit, such as the Limonia bifoliata, and the 

 Banana. 



Fig. 4. — The Passenger Pigeon fC. Migratoria.) This elegant species is sixteen 

 inches in length. In symmetry of form, and in the arrangement and contrast of its 

 colour?, it is exceeded by none of the genus. It inhabits North America, from the 

 Stony iVIountains to Hudson's Cay, and its range extends as far south as the Gulf 

 of Jlexico. Unlike most of the species in the genus Columba, these birds generally 



associate together, both during their incubation and also during their migrations, in 

 such vast numbers as to exceed all belief. They are sometimes seen in feeding parties, 

 covering the country to the extent of two miles in lengtli, and a quarter of a mile in 

 breadth. Their migrations are occasioned by a scaixity of food, which is commonly 

 the beech-nut, and not by temperature, as is the case with some other birds. When 

 they have fixed upon a resting-place, they do not remove from it even after they have 

 exhausted all their food, but will extend their range for a distance of eighty miles to 

 another forest, and return in the evening to their temporary home. When these 

 roosting-placos are discovered by the neighbouring inhabitants, they repair to them in 

 the night. Vast numbers are first stupified with pots of burning sulphur, and then 

 killed with poles, guns, and other instruments of destruction. 



Fig. 5. — The Blue and Green Pigeon (C. Cyano-virens.) Although displaying 

 no great variety in its plumage, it is nevertheless a bird of great beauty. This species 

 is a native of New Guinea, where it frequents the vast forests with which that country 

 abounds. It is about eight inches in length. 



Fig. 6. — The African Ground Pigeon (C. Afra.) This beautiful little species, as 

 its name denotes, is a native of Africa. 



Fig. 1. — The Ground Pigeon (C Passerina.) The birds of this species are na- 

 tives of North and South Carolina, and Georgia, in the United States. They also 

 frequent several of the West India Islands, where the inhabitants frequently catch and 

 k.-'cp them in cages. They congregate in small flocks of about fifteen or twenty, and 

 are usually found on the ground. When disturbed, they rise to a short distance and 

 then alight. 



Fig. 8. — Tlic Black-capped Pigeon (C Melano-cephala) inhabits the island of 

 Java, and builds in trees. Its length is nine inches. 



Fig. 9. — The Great-crowned Pigeon (C. Corovata.) This splendid bird is the 

 largest of its tribe. ISIany attempts have been made to domesticate it, but they have 

 invariably failed. This is to be regretted, as it would not fail to be an important 

 acquisition for our poultry-yards. ' It has been found in the forests of Africa, New 

 Guinea, and the Molucca Islands. 



Fltikg Fish. — The animals of the ocean seem to correspond in their general habits 

 to those of the land — one portion depending upon an erratic mode of life for subsis- 

 tence, like the wandering Arabs of the desert, and the other upon a sedentary life, 

 like the domesticated ones of the plain. The erratic tribes of the ocean, however, 

 have this advantage over those of the land, that, while the green oases scattered thin- 

 ly over the deserts of the latter, and the caravans at chance intervals traversing them, 

 afford but an uncertain supply to its roaming hordes, those of the ocean derive al- 

 ways an abundance in the variety of the finned fishes, and the gelatinous Mollusca and 

 spawn which the latter contains ; the smaller finned tribes preying upon the Mollusca 

 and spawn, and the larger again upon the smaller, until their eventual decease enables 

 the Mollusca to prey in turn upon them. The animal species has, by an eminent 

 naturalist, been compared to a circle, into which all are progressively united by succes- 

 sive connecting hnks; and it may be only a high philosophic enthusiasm for practically 

 demonstrating the truth of this circular theory, which induces them to eat each 

 other in a circle also. Of all the smaller erratic fishes, the flying species is the most 

 interesting, in consequence of its being one of the singular links connecting the fish 

 with the bird tribe, its length seldom exceeding a foot, its shape roundish, and 

 tapering from the head to the tail, with a long fin projecting out on each side of its 

 centre of balance, to be applied either to swimming or flying, according as exigencies 

 may require. It is not, however, a universal wanderer ; like most of the other deep- 

 sea fishes, its range of feeding-ground is confined to the latitudes of the trado 

 winds, most probably in consequence of its slender filmy wings and dehcate form ren- 

 dering it unfit to encounter the rough buffetings of the stormy winds and waves of 

 the seas beyond. Having so many enemies constantly in quest of them as a prey in 

 their own element, no wonder that the Flying Fish should be by nature a timid race, 

 always taking to the air for protection, when threatened by an enemy in the sea. The 

 approach of the Porpoise, Dolphin, Albicore, and Bonetta, quickly scaro them from 

 their watery haunts ; but the terror produced by the latter, is nothing in comparison 

 to that excited by a huge ship suddenly plunging in among a shoal of them sunning 

 themselves near the surface of the water, tumbling over and over in their hurried 

 efforts to get up, or knocking each other down again into the sea in their haste to 

 escape the fancied fangs of the nondescript monster that has thus unexpectedly invaded 

 their domain. Strangers, on first seeing them, almost invariably take them for a flock 

 of birds ; and, indeed, when viewed at a little distan'*.-; on the wing, it frequently re- 

 quires a practised eye to detect the deception, a fresh flock of them being often made 

 to start up at every plunge of the ship, when sailing through a part of the sea where 

 they are rife. Mounting suddenly upwards, with a squattering noise like a flock of 



