222 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



The food of the passenger pigeon is almost wholly of a 

 vegetable nature, although occasionally a few insects are 

 eaten. Its usual diet consists of acorns and other nuts, to- 

 gether with seeds and grains. Even the young are fed upon 

 beechnuts. In the United States the passenger pigeon is now 

 practically an extinct bird, the ruthless persecution it has en- 

 dured having led to this result. 



The Mourning or Carolina Dove is a beautiful bird whose 

 plumage and habits entitle it to high consideration. It is 

 vegetivorous, but seems to feed more freely on the seeds of 

 weeds than on cultivated grains. Professor King took four 

 thousand and sixteen seeds of pigeon-grass (Setaria) from 

 the stomach of a single bird, while from that of another 

 seven thousand five hundred seeds of oxalis have been taken. 

 The young are fed with the regurgitated vegetable food of the 

 adult. 



The Band-tailed Pigeon (Columha fasciata), which ranges 

 westward from the Rocky Mountains and southward through 

 Mexico, is about the only pigeon that we now have worthy 

 to be called game. It is sought by sportsmen both for its 

 flesh and for its gamy qualities. Its food consists of grain, 

 berries and other soft fruits, and buds of certain trees, notably 

 of balsam-poplar. 



the partridge and grouse. 



The Bob-White, or Quail, is found from Minnesota to 

 Texas and eastward. It is favorably regarded by epicures 

 and gunners and deserves the good will of those interested in 

 agriculture. It lives in fields and pastures and during the 

 summer feeds largely on insects. Colorado potato-beetles are 

 frequently eaten : one hundred and one of these pests have 

 been taken from the stomach of one bird. Army-worms are 

 also devoured. When insects are not plentiful, vegetable 

 matter, which is always taken in greater or less quantities, 

 becomes the staple form of diet. This includes grains, seeds, 



