ZOOLOGY. 
217 
ORDER IV. e Scratching Birds. 
Family C 0 L U M B ID AE —Th e r 1 ge o n s . 
COLUMBA FASCIATA, Say. 
Band-tailed Pigeon. 
Columba fasciala, Say, Long's Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 10.— Bon. Amer. Oni. I, 1825, 77 ; pi. viii.— Ib. Syn. 1828, 
119.— Ib. List, 1838, &c.— Baird, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 597. 
CMoroenas fasciala, Bonap. Conspectus, II, 1854, 51. 
Columba mondis. Vigors, Zool. Beechey's Voyage, 1839, 26 : pi. x. 
Sp. Ch. — Above olivaceous, tinged with ash, changing on the wing coverts to bluish ash, of which color are the hinder part 
of the back, rump, and basal portion of the tail. The terminal third of the tail is whitish brown, with a tinge of ash^ 
succeeding a narrow bar of dusky. Head all round, sides of neck and under parts, including tibia, purplish violet ; the 
middle of the abdomen, anal region, and crissum, whitish. Tibia and throat tinged with blue. Quills brown, narrowly 
f 
margined witli white. A conspicuous narrow half collar of white on the nape ; the feathers below this to the upper part o 
the back metallic golden green. Bill and feet yellow ; tlie former black at tip. Iris carmine, bordered with gold color ; liill 
yellow and black ; feet yellow. 
Female similar, with less purple ; the nuchal collar of white obsolete or wanting. Somewhat smaller than the male. 
Length, 15 to 1G.50 inches ; extent, 25 to 26 ; wing, 8.80 ; tail, G.IO. 
Hah. — From Eocky mountains to Pacific coast ; south to New Leon, Mexico. 
The band-tailed pigeon arrives at Columbia river in April, and frequents all the forests of 
the Territory until the end of October, when they retire south. They keep about the borders 
of prairies and clearings, and frequently do much damage to fields of grain, though never 
found in such immense numbers as the wild pigeon east of the Mississippi. In June they lay 
two white eggs, about the same size as the house pigeons, on the ground near streams or 
openings, without constructing any nest. During summer they feed on wild cherries and other 
fruits, wild peas, which are very abundant, and probably later depend on acorns and hazel 
nuts. Their cooing is much like that of the common pigeon. I have not seen them east of 
the Cascade range. — C. 
The band-tailed pigeon is a very common bird in Washington Territory, especially west of 
the Cascade mountains; I saw but one flock containing 5 individuals east of those mountains. 
In 185G the first birds of this species that arrived in the spring made their appearance about 
May 15, which is about the customary time every jeav for their arrival. One or two indivi- 
duals are first seen, and within two or three days thereafter the main body of the migration 
follows. A small number remain throughout the summer and breed; the rest retire further 
north. Those that remain generally make their nests in thick fir forests near water. They 
subsist during the summer on wild cherries and other berries, and later in the season, since 
the country has become settled, upon grain. 
About the first week in September large flocks congregate on stubble fields in the vicinity 
of Fort Steilacoom, and for two or three weeks thereafter their numbers are daily augmented 
by arrivals from the north. Some flocks of these pigeons that I saw in September, 1856, must 
have contained at least one thousand individuals. I am told that in the cultivated district on 
the Cowlitz river, at the same season, they are in still greater numbers. By the 5th of October 
of the year 1856 all had suddenly disappeared, with the exception of a few stragglers, generally 
young birds. In flying, the flocks, I think, are not quite as compactly crowded as those of the 
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