238 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
Order XI. COLUMBAi. Pigeons and Doves. 
Family 35. COLUMBID. Pigeons. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
A. Larger. Tail-feathers twelve; sides of neck without black spot. 
Passenger Pigeon. No. 128. 
AA. Smaller. Tail-feathers fourteen; a small but distinct black spot on 
each side of the neck. Mourning Dove. No. 129. 
128. Passenger Pigeon. Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.). (315) 
Synonyms: Wild Pigeon, Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Red-breasted Pigeon, Blue-headed 
Pigeon, incorrectly Carrier Pigeon.—Columba migratoria, Linn., 1766, Gm., Forst., Wils., 
Aud,—Ectopistes migratoria, Swains., 1827, and authors generally.—Columba canadensis, 
Linn.—Columba Americana, Kalm. 
Plates XV XVI, XVII. 
The dove-like form and long, pointed tail will separate this species from 
any of our birds except the Mourning Dove, and from this it may be known 
at once (with the bird in hand) by its large size, the total absence of the 
small black spot on each side of the neck, and the possession of but twelve 
tail-feathers instead of fourteen. At a distance of fifty yards, however 
none of these points serves, and I doubt that any one could surely dis- 
criminate the two species unless they were seen together, or some other 
bird whose identity was known were close at hand for comparison of size. 
The slate-blue head and ruddy breast of the adult male are very different 
from those of the Mourning Dove but females and immature birds do not 
possess these marks. 
Distribution.—Formerly eastern North America, from Hudson Bay 
southward, and west to the Great Plains, straggling thence to Nevada 
and Washington. Breeding range mainly restricted to portions of Canada 
and northern border of the United States as far west as Manitoba and the 
Dakotas. Now probably extinct. 
Formerly the Wild Pigeon was one of the best known birds of the state, 
appearing in immense flocks nearly every spring and almost invariably 
in autumn in all parts of the state. Where “mast” was abundant small 
numbers lingered until snow came, and a few frequently remained in the 
southern counties through mild winters. The great invasions, however, 
by hundreds of thousands or even millions, usually took place suddenly 
in April, and the birds began nesting early in May. 
This species was always partial to hardwood growths, and a large 
“nesting” or “roost,” as it was often called, was almost always located 
in or near an extensive area of hardwood timber where food was abundant. 
When a nesting tract had been selected, however, the pigeons used trees of 
every kind—beech. maple, birch. oak tamarack, cedar (arbor vite), 
hemlock, pine, etc., and scores. or even a hundred nests were placed in a 
