PASSENGER PIGEON. 



95 



wing-coverts, of a grey-brown ; the latter sprinkled 

 with spots of black : the feathers on the sides of 

 the neck are violet, with a golden reflection : the 

 rump is of a grey-brown : the upper tail- coverts, 

 and the two middle feathers, are of an earthy- 

 brown ; the rest of the tail-feathers are whitish- 

 grey ; the inner webs, like those of the male, being 

 marked with two spots, one of rufous, and another 

 of dusky-brown : the lower part of the neck, the 

 breast, and the belly, are dirty- white, with brown 

 and brownish-white shades : under tail-coverts pure 

 white : thighs dirty- white : quills dirty-brown, the 

 greater ones with yellowish edges : the legs red ; 

 the claws black. A variety mentioned by Brisson 

 has the whole of the feathers on the head, the 

 neck, the breast, and the upper part of the back, 

 terminated with a band of whitish-grey. 



This Pigeon inhabits America, between the six- 

 tieth and seventieth degrees of latitude, passing the 

 summer season in the northern parts, and upon the 

 approach of winter retiring to the south : it builds in 

 the highest trees, laying two white eggs : its chief 

 food consists of the mast of beech and acorns, but 

 it will eat other seeds. The numbers of these 

 birds are without calculation during their passage 

 from one part to another, as at that time they are 

 stated to darken the air with their prodigious mul- 

 titudes, being often seen in strings of two miles in 

 length, and a quarter of a mile in breadth : they fre- 

 quently perch upon trees, and often in such quan- 

 tities as to break down tolerably large branches. 

 The people of Philadelphia shoot them from their 



