MARTYR 203 



humming-birds, flickers, and some other feathered parents, 

 doves feed their fledglings by pumping partly digested food 

 — "pigeon's milk" — from their own crops into theirs. 



When they leave the open woodlands to take a dust 

 bath in the road, or to walk about and collect gravel for 

 their interior grinding machines, or to get a drink of water 

 before going to sleep, you may have a good look at them. 

 As they walk, they bob their heads in a funny manner of 

 their own. They are bluish, fawn-colored birds about a 

 foot long. The male has some exquisite metallic colors on 

 his neck, otherwise he resembles his best beloved. Beauti- 

 ful birds these, in spite of their quiet Quaker clothes. 



In the Southern states the little ground doves, the small- 

 est of the columbine kin, may be seen by every roadside. 



The Passenger Pigeon 



Length — 16 to 25 inches. 



Male — ^Upper parts bluish slate shaded with olive gray on 

 back and shoulders, and with metallic violet, gold, and 

 greenish reflections on back and sides of head; the wing 

 coverts with velvety black spots; throat bluish slate, 

 quickly shading into a rich reddish buff on breast, and 

 paling into white underneath; two middle tail feathers 

 blackish; others fading from pearl to white. Eyes red, 

 like the feet; bill black. 



Female — Similar, but upper parts washed with more olive 

 brown; less iridescence; breast pale grayish brown fading 

 to white underneath. 



Range — ^Eastern North America, nesting chiefly north of or 

 along the northern borders of United States as far west 

 as the Dakotas and Manitoba, and north to Hudsons Bay. 



