KEY WEST PIGEON, 123 
But the most beautiful, perhaps, of all its species 
is the Key West pigeon, first seen by Audubon 
at the place after which itis named. ‘“ How I 
gazed,” he tells us, ‘on its resplendent plumage! 
—how I watched the expression of its richly 
coloured, large, and timid eye, as the poor 
creature gasped its last breath. Ah! how I 
looked at the lovely bird, I handled it, turned 
it, examined its feathers and form, its bill, its 
legs, its claws, weighed it, and after a while 
formed a winding sheet for it of a piece of paper. 
Did ever Egyptian pharmacopolist employ more 
care in embalming the most illustrious of the 
Pharaohs, than I did, in trying to preserve from 
injury this most beautiful of the woodland covers. 
The brilliant plumage of these birds glitters with. 
the most magnificent ever changing metallic 
hues, and appears especially splendid when they 
are seen in flocks of from five to six at a time, 
performing their low, swift, protracted flight, 
hovering so closely over the surface of the sea, 
as to seem on the point of falling into it, or 
speeding to escape danger, towards the forests. 
Karly in the morning they emerge from the 
thickets to cleanse themselves in the shelly sands, 
surrounding the numerous islands, which protect, 
like fortifications, the Flonda shore. 
They usually prefer the darkest solitudes for 
their habitations. 
