.98 PIGEON. 



autumn by devouring the corn, before they begin their southern 

 flight. Now and then they come into Georgia in small flocks, pro- 

 bably from their not finding mast, acorns, &c. in other places, their 

 most usual rout of migration. 



This Species is said only to have one young at a time, a circum- 

 stance observed in at least 100 nests ; one of their breeding places 

 said to be near Shelby ville, in the state of Kentucky, which was several 

 miles in breadth, and almost every tree furnished with nests, where- 

 ever the branches could accommodate them ; so that by cutting down 

 one tree, they procure sometimes 200 squabs, which are almost a 

 mass of fat, in so much that many melt it down, to be used as a 

 substitute for butter and lard. An enlarged and amusing account 

 of this bird may be read in the American Ornithology . 



123— CANADA PIGEON. 



Columba Canadensis, hid. Orn. ii. 613. Lin. i. 284. Gm. Lin. i. 785. Bris. i. 118. 



Id. Svo. i. 29. 

 Tourterelle de Canada, Bvf. ii. 552. Sonnin. Buf. vii. 280. t. 43. f. 1. Pi. enl. 176. 

 Canada Turtle, Gen. Syn. iv. 658. Arct. Zool. ii. No. 190. 



LENGTH thirteen inches. Bill blackish ; upper part of the 

 head, neck, back, and wings, grey brown ; lower part of the back 

 and rump ash-colour; from chin to breast yellowish brown, greyish 

 on the sides ; beneath from the breast white ; wing coverts marked 

 with blackish brown spots ; quills brown, the greater edged with 

 yellowish ; tail cuneiform, ash-colour, the longest feather five inches 

 and a half; all the feathers tipped with white, but the outer one 

 wholly white, and all, except the two middle ones, marked within 

 near the base with a rufous spot, beneath which is another of dusky 

 black ; legs red. In the female the feathers of the head, neck, breast, 

 and upper parts, are tipped with dirty white, giving them a striated 

 appearance. 



