CHAPTER XXX. 

 COLUMB^. 



Dove-like Birds — ^Altricial. 



The essential characteristic of this order is the 

 character of the bill. This is hard and homy throughout, 

 convex at the tip, and a little constricted a short distance 

 back of the tip. At the base of the bill, there is a mem- 

 brane which covers the nostrils, and which is soft and 

 elastic while the bird is alive, but contracts and shrinks 

 in mounted specimens. As one looks down upon the 

 bill from above, the feathers sweep across its base in a 

 softly convex line. 



The toes are usually not webbed at base, but are 

 in some specimens slightly connected by webbing. The 

 hind toe is on a level with the other toes, as in the passerine 

 foot, and the tarsus is, in most of the birds, shorter than 

 the toes. It is either covered in front with scales of 

 regular shape, scutellate; or it is thickly feathered, or 

 covered by irregularly shaped scales, that is, reticulate. 

 The number of tail feathers is twelve or fourteen. 



The habits of the birds are arboreal or tree inhabiting ; 

 though there are some ground pigeons. Most of the 

 Columbas are grain-eaters, and some of them are closely 

 related to the grouse. The fruit pigeons belong to the 

 Malay Peninsula, Australia, and the Polynesian group 

 of islands. They are monogamous in their domestic 

 habits, and both parents seem to share equally- in the 

 nest-building, incubation, and care of the young. The 



320 



