CAROLINA PIGEON. 389 
during the winter. On the 2d of February, in the reighborhood of 
Newbern, North Carolina, 1] saw a flock of Turtle Doves of Many 
hundreds ; in other places, as I advanced farther south, particularly 
near the Savannah River, in Georgia, the woods were swarming with 
them, and the whistling.of their wings was heard in every direction. 
On their return to the north in March, and early in April, they dis- 
perse so generally over the country, that there are rarely more than 
three or four. seen together —most frequently only two. Here they 
commonly fly in pairs, resort constantly to the public roads to dust 
themselves and procure gravel; are often seen in the farmer’s yard 
before the door, the stable, barn, and other outhouses, in search of 
food, seeming little inferior in familiarity, at such times, to the do- 
mestic Pigeon. They often mix with the poultry while they are fed 
in the morning, visit the yard and adjoining road many times a-day, 
andthe pump, creek, horse trough, and rills for water. , 
Their flight is quick, vigorous, and always accompanied by a pe- 
culiar whistling of the wings, by which they can easily be distinguished 
from the Wild Pigeon, They fly with great swiftness, alight on trees, 
fences, or on the ground indiscriminately; are exceedingly fond of 
buckwheat, hempseed, and Indian corn; feed on the berries of the 
holly, the dogwood, and poke, huckleberries, partridgeberries, and the 
small acorns of the live oak and shrub oak. They devour large quan- 
tities of gravel, and sometimes pay a visit to the kitchen garden for 
peas, for which they have a particular regard. ; 
In this part of Pennsylvania, they commence building about the 
beginning of May. The nest is very rudely constructed, generally in 
an evergreen, among the thick foliage of the vine, in an orchard, on 
the horizontal branches of an apple tree, and, in some cases, on the 
ground. It is composed of a handful of small twigs, laid with little 
art, on which are scattered dry, fibrous roots of plants ; and in this 
almost flat bed are deposited two eges of a snowy whiteness. The 
male and female unite in feeding the young, and they have rarely 
more than two. broods in the same season. 
The flesh of this bird is considered much superior to that of the 
Wild Pigeon ; but its seeming confidence in man, the tenderness of 
itsmotes, and the innocency attached to its charact 7, are, with many, 
its security. and protection; wita others, however, the tenderness of its 
flesh, and the sport of shooting, overcome all other considerations. 
About the commencement of frost, they begin to move off to the south; 
numbers, however, remain in Pennsylvania during the whole winter. 
The Turtle Dove is twelve inches long, and seventeen inches in 
extent; bill, black; eye, of a glossy blackness, surrounded with a pale 
greenish blue skin; crown, upper part of the neck and wings, a fine 
silky slate blue ; back, scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts, ashy brown; 
tertials spotted with black; primaries, edged and tipped with white ; 
forehead, sides of the neck, and breast, a pale brown vinous orange ; 
under the ear-feathers, a spot or drop of deep black; immediately 
below which the plumage reflects the most vivid tints of green, gold, 
and crimson ; chin, pale yellow ochre ; belly and vent, whitish; legs 
and feet, coral red, seamed with white ; the tail is long and cuneiform, 
consisting of fourteen feathers; the four exterior ones, on each side, 
are marked ae about an inch from the tips, and white thence 
* 
