216 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



ever seen together were in the flocks of passenger pigeons early 

 in the nineteenth century; single flocks were carefully esti- 

 mated, and declared to contain more birds than there are 

 human inhabitants on the whole earth. Now at the close of 

 the century they are practically extinct. (Wild Pigeon.) 



Length, 15-17 ; wing, 8J (Jl-^h) ; t^'li ^i > culmen |. North America 

 from the Great Plains eastward and north to Hudson Bay ; breeding now 

 only along the northern border of tlie United States and in Canada. 

 Stragglers have been found as far west as Washington. 



-L Mourning Dove (316. Zenaidhm macrokrd). — A very com- 

 mon, pointed-tailed, brownish-backed, ground dove, with brown- 

 ish to yellow or buff 

 ^^%i>m», under parts. The 

 sides of neck are 

 brightly iridescent, 

 ,/ with a small, black 



mark below the ear. 

 Tail feathers with a 

 black bar, and the 

 outer (under) ones 

 tipped with white. 



MoarniogBove 'J-'^i^ ^P^^ies resem- 



bles the last in ap- 

 pearance, but is much smaller. During the breeding season, 

 these birds are usually in single pairs in open woodlands. 

 Later in the season they are to be found in grain fields in 

 flocks, sometimes of great size. The peculiarly sad coo-o-coo- 

 o-oing of the male has led to the application of the common 

 name. (Wild Dove ; Turtle Dove.) 



Length, 11-13; wing, 5J ; tail, 5| ; tar.sus, J; oulmen, J. Temperate 

 North America ; breeding from southern Canada southward, and wintering 

 from southern Pennsylvania to Panama. 



5. Zenaida Dove (317. Zend,ida aevxildxt). — A rare, extreme 

 southern, short-square-tailed, olive-brown-baeked, reddish-bel- 

 lied dove, with the secondary wing quills tipped with white, 

 and the outer tail feathers having a black band near the ashy 



