16 



PIGEONS. 



the second is the longest, the first almost equal in length, the third considerably 

 shorter ; the secondaries are twelve in number, short, and end obliquely. The 

 tail is straight, slightly rounded, the feathers broad and abruptly rounded. 



" The horny part of the bill is brownish-black. The iris of the eye is bright 

 yellowish-red ; the bare space around the eye flesh-coloured. The tarsi and toes 

 are carmine-purple ; the claws dark greyish-brown or black. 



" The general colour of the plumage is light greyish-blue, the lower parts 

 being as deeply coloured as the upper. The middle of the neck all round is 

 splendent with green, its lower part with purplish-red. The lower part of the 

 back and the upper part of the sides, from near the shoulders to near the tail, are 

 pure white, as are the lower wing-coverts and axillaries. The primaries and their 

 coverts are brownish-grey on the outer web, the former dusky towards the end, 

 as are the outer secondaries. There are two broad bars of black on the wing, 

 one extending over the six inner secondary quills, the other over the secondary 

 coverts, the outer two excepted. The tail has a broad terminal band of black, 

 and the outer web of each lateral feather is white. The downy part of the 

 feathers is greyish-white, excepting on the white part of the back, where it is pure 

 white. 



" Length to end of tail 14 inches ; to end of wings when closed 12f ; extent of 

 wings 27 ; wing from flexure 9f ; tail 5 ; bill along the back if, along the edge 

 of lower mandible 1 ; tarsus 1 T 2 3 ; first toe £, its claw -fe ; second toe -ff-, its 

 claw x % ; third toe l^ s , its claw 5j twelfths ; fourth toe \^, its claw 4^ twelfths. 



" The only external differences which the female presents consist of her being 

 a little smaller, and having the shining colours on the neck less extended. 



" Length to end of tail 13j inches ; extent of wings 26^ ; wing from flexure 9J; 

 tail 4J ; bill along the back ^4, along the edge of lower mandible 1 ; tarsus 1^ ; 

 first toe 5-, its claw -j 4 . ; second toe -^f , its claw -^j ; third toe 1-3%, its claw 5g- 

 twelfths ; fourth toe {%, its claw 4J twelfths. 



" Among the vast numbers of undoubtedly wild birds of this species which I have 

 seen, I have not observed any remarkable variations of form or colour. The dark- 

 coloured, purple, and white individuals, which are occasionally seen consorting 

 with the wild doves, or residing in maritime caves or rocks, are in all probability 

 domestic birds that have betaken themselves to the original mode of life of the 

 species. As the moulting season approaches, the blue tint becomes much paler, 

 especially on the wings. The outer primary quills are often tinged with brown, 

 in consequence of the bird's striking the ground with its wings when commencing 

 its flight ; and the bill is frequently more or less crusted with earth or mud. 

 Individuals vary in length from 13 to 14 inches, and in the extent of their wings 

 from 24 to 27. 



"At the western extremity of Ben Capval, a promontory of one of the remote 

 Hebrides, is a vast mass of rock, broken by gaps and fissures into projecting crags 

 and sloping shelves, and looking as if originally produced by the separation of a 

 portion of the mountain which had sunk into the depths of the ocean that heaves 



