566 



SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — COL UMB2E — PEBISTEB^. 



Pigeons. Tail long, equal to the wings, cuneate, of 12 tapering acuminate feathers, parti- 

 colored. Wing acutely pointed by first 3 primaries, with black spots on the coverts. Bill 

 small, with culmen less than half the head, short gonys, feathered far forward between the rami. 

 Tarsi short, feathered part way dowm in front, where scutellate, but not in one regular row of 

 scales. Lateral toes unequal. Sexes unlike. 

 543. E. niigrato'rius. (Lat. migratoriits, migratory. Fig. .390.) Pa.ssenger Pigeon. Wild 

 Pigeon. Adult ^■. Upper parts, including head all around, slaty-blue, bright and pure on head 

 and rump, shaded with olivaceous-gray on the back and vidngs; the back and sides of the neck 



glittering with golden 

 and violet iridescence, 

 the wing-coverts with 

 velvety - black spots. 

 Below, from the throat, 

 light purplish-chestnut, 

 paler behind ami fad- 

 ing into white on tlie 

 lower belly and cris- 

 sum. Tibise, sides of 

 body, and lining of 

 wings like upper parts. 

 Quills blackish, with 

 rufous - white edging. 

 Two middle tail-feath- 

 ers blackish ; others 



fading from pearly - 

 - Passenger Pigeon. (From Tenney, after Wilson. ) i^l^i^lj j^,, „,jjjtg^ ^j^^j^. 



extreme bases with l)lack and chestnut spots. Bill black ; feet lake red, drying an undefiuable 

 color; iris orange; skin about eye red. Length about 17-00, but very varial)le, according to 

 development (jf the tail; extent 23.00-25.00 ; wing 8.00-8.50; tail about the same, the lateral 

 feathers graduated ratlier more than half its length ; bill 0.75 ; tarsus 1.00 ; middle toe and claw 

 1.25. Adult 9 • Upper parts, wings and tail, as in ^ : below, brownish-gray, fading poste- 

 riorly. Young: Like the 9 , but still duller; little or no clear slaty except on rump ; plumage 

 varied with white crescentic edges of the featliers, especially on the back and wings ; quills 

 edged about with rufous; most of the lateral tail-feathers gray. "Wanders continually in 

 search nf food throughout all parts of N. Am. ; wonderfully abundant at times in particular 

 districts;" chiefly, however, temiierate N. Am., East of the R. Mts. We do not have the 

 " millions" that the earlier writers speak of in the Eastern U. S. now : but I remember one 

 great fiight over Washington when I was a boy: the greatest roosts and flights we now hear 

 of are in the upper Mississippi Valley. Nest in trees and bushes, a slight frail platform of 

 twigs, so open as to leave the egg visible from below. Eggs 1 or 2, equal-ended, 1.45 X 1.05. 



Fig. 390. 



49. Subfamily ZENAIDIN/E : Ground Doves. 



Feet larger than in Cohmibina:. Tarsus lengthened to exceed the lateral toes, entirely 



naked and scutellate in front (scarcely feathered in Search fella) . Tail-feathers normally 13, 



larely 11 or more {Zenaidura the only North American Pigeon with more than 12). Seven 



North American genera, each of a single species in tliis country. 



Analysis of Genera. 



Tail of 14 feathers Zenaidura 195 



Tail of 12 featliers. 



Outer iiriDi.ary attenuate, bistoury-like KngypWa 191 



