Crass Il. COMMON PIGEON. 
or cooing; and had he known it, he might have 
added the Britifh, &c. for K’lommen, Kylobman, 
Kulm and Kolm fignify the fame bird. They were, 
and ftill are in moft parts of our ifland, in a ftate 
of nature; but probably the Romans taught us 
the method of making them domeftic, and con- 
ftructing pigeon houfes. Its characters in the ftate 
neareft that of its origin, is a deep bluith afh color; 
the breaft dafhed with a fine changeable green and 
purple; the fides of the neck with thining cop- 
per color; its wings marked with two black bars, | 
one on the coverts of the wings, the other on the 
quil feathers. The back white, and the tail barred 
near the end with black. The weight fourteen 
ounces. 
In the wild ftate it breeds in holes of rocks, and 
hollows of trees, for which reafon fome writers ftile 
it columba cavernalis™, in oppofition to the Ring 
Dove, which makes its neft on the boughs of 
trees. Nature ever preferves fome agreement 
in the manners, characters, and colors of birds 
reclamed from their wild ftate. This fpecies of 
pigeon foon takes to build in artificial cavities, 
and from the temptation of a ready provifion be- 
comes eafily domefticated. The drakes of the 
tame duck, however they may vary in color, 
ever retain the mark of their origin from our Eng- 
* The Columba faxatilis, a {mall fort, that is frequent on 
moft of our cliffs, is only a variety of the wild pigeon. 
lifh 
291 
DescripP. 
