226 
YEKTEBRATA. 
lower parts black, glossed with green ; they fly in pairs or small flocks, feed on fruits and berries, 
roost on the branches of trees, and build their nests on the rocks. The natives keep them as 
tame pets. 
THE DIDIDJE. 
Genus DIDTJS : Didus. — This, the only genus 
THE DODO. 
of the group, included the Dodo, D. ineptus^ 
now extinct. This was larger than a swan, 
sometimes weighing fifty pounds ; the bill was 
long and strong ; the feet short and stout ; the 
wings, furnished only with soft, decomposed 
plumes, were short, and incapable of enabling 
the bird to fly ; the tail was ornamented with 
a similar tuft of feathers ; the general color a 
blackish-gray; the plumes of the wings a light 
ash -color. When the island of Mauritius was 
discovered in 1598, this bird was quite abund- 
ant there, as well as in the neighboring island 
of Bourbon ; but it has been gradually extir- 
pated, and now some paintings, made of it long 
ago— two heads, a foot, and a few feathers — are 
the only existing memorials of this remarkable bird. 
On the little island of Rodriguez, near the island of Mauritius, some bones have been discov- 
ered, which are supposed to have belonged to three allied, but all probably extinct species, one of 
them the Dodo, another the Solitaire, Didus solitarius, twice the size of that bird, and the third 
Didus Nazarenus^ smaller than either. 
THE GOURIDJE. 
These birds, called Ground- Pig eons, of which there are several genera, arc found in the warm 
parts of both hemispheres, and some are of considerable size. The Goura Crowned Pigeon, 
Goura coronata, is nearly of the size of a turkey, lives in flocks, feeds on seeds, and rarely perches 
on trees. It is kept in the poultry-yards of Java, where it is a native, but does not breed in Eu- 
rope or America. The Nicobar Pi&eon, Calcenas JVicobarica, is an exceedingly beautiful spe- 
cies, the tail-feathers resembling those of the domestic cock. Its general color is purplish -black ; 
the feathers of the neck long, pointed, and glossed with blue, red, and gold; the wings are blue, 
the back p-olden-o-reen, the tail white. It is found in India. The Bronze-winged Ground 
Dove, Phaps chalcoptera, is fifteen inches long, and coos so loud that its note is compared to the 
bellowino- of a cow ; found in the Australian islands. The Ground Dove of the United States — 
Columha passerina of Audubon; Chamaepelia jjasserina of Swainson- — is a beautiful species, six 
and three-quarter inches long; color, light purplish-red, above; reddish below; found in the 
South Atlantic and Gulf States. 
THE COLUMBIDiE OR TRUE PIGEONS. 
Of these birds, called Pigeons and Doves, there are many species ; they live in wooded places, 
and roost on trees; they feed usually on the ground, picking up seeds of all kinds, young herb- 
age, and roots ; in autumn some eat fruits. We can only notice, very briefly, the prominent 
species. They lay two eggs, and soften the food for the young with a milky substance in their 
crops. 
Gejius COLUMBA : Columha. — This includes the European Stock-Dove — Pigeon sauvage 
of the French — (7. (S'tocis, thirteen inches long ; general color gray; breast red. It frequents 
mountainous districts. The Ring-Dove, C. palumbus — Ramier of the French, Ringel-Tauhe 
of the Germans — is seventeen and a half inches long, and is one of the largest of the European 
wild pigeons ; general color gray ; neck beautifully iridescent. In England it is called Wood- 
Pigeon, Ctishat, and Queest. 
The RocK-DovE, C. livia, is naturally wild, inhabiting high rocks near the sea-coast, in the 
