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Genus I.— COLUMBA, Linn. DOVE. 



Bill straight, rather short, slender, compressed; upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line straight at the base, convex toward the end, the nostrils linear, 

 oblique, covered with a fleshy bare membrane, the edges sharp toward the 

 end, with a distinct notch, the tip narrow, sharp-edged, rounded; lower 

 mandible with the angle long and pointed, the sides erect, the base sloping 

 outwards toward the end, the edges sharp, the tip narrow, but blunt. Head 

 small, oblong, compressed; neck of moderate length; body full. Feet short, 

 strong; tarsus very short, roundish, with a single row of scutella above, and 

 two anterior rows of large hexagonal scales; toes beneath rather slender, 

 broad and flat beneath, marginate, with large scutella; hind toe smallest, 

 lateral about equal. Claws of moderate size, arched, compressed, acute. 

 Plumage rather compact above, blended beneath; wings long, pointed, the 

 second and third quills longest. Tail of moderate length, rounded, of twelve 

 broad rounded feathers. 



BAND-TAILED DOVE, OR PIGEON. 



-f-CoLUMBA FASCIATA, Say. 



PLATE CCLXXIX.— Male and Female. 



In the course of Colonel Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, a 

 single specimen of this large and handsome Pigeon was procured. This 

 individual was afterwards figured in the continuation of Wilson's American 

 Ornithology. Many specimens, however, have more recently been obtained 

 by Mr. Townsend, from whom I have procured three pairs of adult and 

 some young birds. Comparing them with the figure above alluded to, I 

 should consider it as having been taken from a young male. In my plate 



