COLUMBIA. 365 



coverts into clove-brown. Under plumage, throat, and breast clove-brown, each feather 

 marked with a terminal whitish crescent. Chin, body, flanks, and under tail coverts, dull 

 white. Tail feathers, with the middle pair, clove-brown ; the others with a basal spot of 

 rufous and a central black band on their inner webs ; the tips nearly white, and the ground 

 colour lavender-purple upon all except the outer feather, which is marked upon a pure white 

 ground. Bill black. Legs dull red. 



Form, compared with the Wood Pigeon. — Bill of a similar structure, but more slender : 

 a slight festoon on the margin of the upper mandible towards the tip. Wings more pointed, 

 the first and second quill being of equal length, and longer than the third by four-tenths of 

 an inch : all the remainder diminish rapidly, with intervals of from four to five-tenths between 

 each : the ends of the lesser quills are obliquely truncated at their outer shafts. Tail 

 lengthened, cuneated ; all the feathers progressively narrowing towards their extremities, 

 which are obtuse. Tarsi moderate, slightly longer than the hind toe and its claw ; the upper 

 half clothed with feathers, the lower defended in front by transverse scales. Anterior outer 

 toes and claws unequal, the exterior being obviously the shortest (in the Wood Pigeon these 

 toes are equal) ; middle, hinder, and interior claws of the same size ; the exterior smaller.* 

 — Sw. 



* As ornithologists do not appear to be aware of the great difference which exists in the groups of this family, in 

 the relative structure of their feet, we shall here draw their attention to the principal groups. In the even-tailed Wood 

 Pigeons of Europe, North America, and the Old World, forming the restricted genus Columba, the external and 

 internal anterior toes are equal. In the lovely genus Ptilinopus, Swains., confined to the Green Pigeons of the Indian 

 and Australian isles, and in that of Vinago, Cuv., formed by the thick-billed species of the same countries, the inner 

 toe is much shorter than the outer ; but in the sub-genus (?) Ectopistes, Swains., and the small Turtle Doves, this 

 proportion is reversed, the inner toe being the longest. In the beautiful genus Peristera, Swains., which comprises all 

 the bronze-winged Pigeons of Australia and the Ground Pigeons of America, the tarsi are more elevated, the hind toe 

 shorter, and the inner toe is likewise the longest. We have been for some time engaged in analyzing this family, with 

 a view of ascertaining the relative value of all these groups. — Sw. 



