232 COLTJMBID^. 



incumbent valve, open (Salvadori). There are also many characters, anatomical and 

 pterylographical, distinguishing the Order, which is a sufficiently natural one, familiar 

 to all ornithologists. The classification here adopted is that of Count Salvadori in the 

 twenty-first volume of the ' Catalogue of Birds.' With the exception of the genus 

 Columba, which is represented in the Old World also, the other genera recorded in 

 this work are strictly confined to the American region. 



Pam. COLTT]V[BID.aE. 



The Columbidae are divided by Count Salvadori into three subfamilies — the 

 Columbinae, or true Pigeons, common to both the Old and New Worlds ; the Macro- 

 pygiinas, or Barred Doves, confined to Australia and the oriental regions of the Old 

 World ; and the Ectopistinse, or Passenger-Pigeons, which are peculiar to America. 



All the species of this family have an abbreviated tarsus, which is usually shorter 

 than the middle toe. 



Subfam. COLUMBINE. 

 The characters of this subfamily are practically the same as those of the family, with 

 the exception that in the true Pigeons the tail is square and of moderate length, not 

 exceeding that of the wings, whereas in the Macropygiinae and the Ectopistinae it is 

 graduated and considerably exceeds their length. 



COLUMBA. 



Columba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 379 (1766) ; Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 241 (1893). 



In this genus the tarsus is shorter than the lateral toes and is slightly feathered on 

 the upper part, but never for more than half its length. Columha includes the well- 

 known European Wood- and Eock-Pigeons, and other remarkable forms inhabiting 

 the New World. 



About sixty species are known, and the genus is universally distributed. The nest is 

 usually placed in trees, and consists of a frail platform of sticks and bents. The eggs 

 are white and two in number, though some species, like C.flavirostris, lay biit one. 



1. Columba leucocephala. 



Columba minor capite albo, Sloane, Hist. Jamaica, ii. p. 303, t. 261. f. 2\ 



Columba leucocephala, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 281 ° ; Temm. & Knip, Pig. i. (2) t. 13 ' j Moore, 

 P. Z. S. 1859, p. 61 '; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 222 ' ; Salv. Ibis, 1864, pp. 374', 380', 

 383'; 1885, p. 193°; 1889, p. 377"; Cory, Birds Bahama Is. p. 137" ; Birds W. Indies, 

 p. 209 " ; Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds, p. 131, t. 4. fig. 4 " ; Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 X. p. 577"; A. 0. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 120"; Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. 

 Mus. xxi. p. 278". 



