Female. 
286 COLUMB. 
black, with a white spot at the tips. Six middle tail- 
feathers black, with white pointed tips ; the rest of them 
with a large oval white spot occupying the middle of 
the inner webs. Belly and vent white, tinged with 
wood-brown. Legs and toes wood-brown. i 
Fig. 9. The female. Natural size. 
There is but little difference between her and the male 
bird. The colours are rather inferior in brilliancy, and 
the red upon the forehead and throat is frequently mix- 
ed with black specks. 
OrpEer VIII. COLUMBINE. COLUMB, 
Auctor. 
CHARACTERS OF THE ORDER. 
Bill of mean strength ; the base of the upper mandible co- 
vered with a soft cartilaginous membrane in which the nos- 
trils are placed; the tip more or less deflected. Tail of 
twelve feathers. Feet with three toes before and one behind ; 
the former entirely divided. 
This order, according to the systems of most ornitholo- 
gists, contains but one genus, which, in order to facilitate 
the investigation and arrangement of the species, is generally 
divided into three sections; the first containing those with 
the tarsus longer than that of the members of the second, 
which last embraces the whole of the British and European 
species; and the third is formed of such as have the bill of a 
thicker and more solid substance than in the other sections, 
and is confined to the Torrid Zone of the Old Continent. 
Although the Pigeon tribe approach to the Gallinaceous 
order in some points of disposition and manner, and also in 
