PASSENGER PIGEON. 61 



R A SO RES. GOLUMBW/E. 



PLATE CXLVIL 



PASSENGER PIGEON. 



COLUMBA MIGRATORIA. 



The Passenger Pigeon has obtained a place in the British 

 Fauna, in consequence of its having been found once in 

 Britain ; and we are indebted to Dr. Fleming for the notice 

 of this solitary instance of its appearance. According to 

 this gentleman, in his " History of British Animals, " a 

 specimen was shot on the 81st of December, 1825, in the 

 parish of Monymeal, in Fifeshire. 



We are indebted to American ornithologists for the his- 

 tory of these birds ; and, as M. Temminck gives a general 

 compilation of the different statements relating to them, we 

 present our readers with the following translation of his 

 account: — "When we consider the habits of this species, 

 particularly in respect of its wandering propensities, and its 

 existence in all the northern parts of America, even those 

 nearest the north pole, it is not surprising that some stragglers 

 should be found from time to time within the limits of 

 Europe, and that they should have been captured in our 

 northern countries, to which they have been driven by gales 

 of wind. Several specimens are cited as having been taken 

 in England, Norway, and Russia, the most recent of which 

 took place in December, 1825, in Fifeshire, in Great Bri- 

 tain. Its range extends from the Gulf of Mexico over the 



