COL 
COL 
They come' in prodigious numbers from the 
north, to winter in Virginia and Carolina. 
In these countries they roost upon one an- 
other’s backs in such numbers that they 
often break down the limbs of oaks which 
support them, anti leave their dung some 
inches thick below the trees. In Virginia 
Mr. Catesby has seen them fly in such' con- 
tinued trains for three days successively, 
that they were not lost sight of for the least 
interval of time, but somewhere in the air 
they were seen continuing their flight south- 
ward. They breed in rocks by the sides, of 
rivers and lakes far north of St. Laurence. 
They lly to the south only in hard winters, 
and are never known to return. 
4. Columba cenas, or the domestic pigeon, 
and all its beautiful varieties, derive their 
origin from one species, the stock dove ; the 
English name implying its being the stock or 
stem, whence the other domestic birds have 
sprung. These birds, as Varro observes, 
take their Latin name, columba, from their 
voice or cooing: and, had he known it, he 
1 might have added the British also; for 
k’lommen, kvlabmano, kulm, and kolm, 
signify the same bird'. They were, and still 
are, to be found in most parts of our island 
in a state of nature ; but probably the Ro- 
mans first taught the Britons how to construct 
.pigeon-houses, and make birds domestic. 
The characters of the domestic pigeon are 
these. It is of a deep blueisli ash-colour; 
the breast dashed with a fine changeable 
green and purple; it weighs fourteen ounces. 
Iu the wild slate it breeds in holes of rocks 
and hollows of trees ; for which reason some 
style it columba cavernalis, in opposition to 
the ring-dove, which makes its nest on the 
boughs of trees. Nature always preserves 
some agreement in the manners, characters, 
and colours, of birds reclaimed from the wild 
state. This species of pigeon soon takes to 
build in artificial cavities, and from the temp- 
tation of a ready provision becomes easily 
domesticated. Multitudes of these wild 
birds migrate into the south of England; and, 
while the beech-woods were suffered to cover- 
large tracts of ground, they used to haunt 
them in myriads, reaching a mile in length, 
as they went out in the morning to feed. 
They visit Britain the latest of any bird of 
passage, not appearing till November, and 
retiring in the spring. Mr. Pennant ima- 
gines, that their summer haunts are in Swe- 
den, a- Mr. Eckmark makes their retreat 
thence coincide with their arrival in Britain. 
Numbers of them, however, breed in cliffs 
on the coast of Wales, and of the Hebrides. 
The varieties produced from the domestic- 
breed are numerous, and extremely elegant ; 
they. are distinguished by names expressive 
of their several properties, as tumblers, 
carriers, jacobines, croppers, pouters, runts, 
t urbites, owls, nuns, &c. The most celebrated 
of these is the carrier. They are gregarious ; 
lay only two eggs, and breed many times in 
the year. So quick is their increase, that the 
author of the Economy of Nature observes, 
that in the space erf four years 14760 pigeons 
may come from a single pair. The male and 
female sit, and also feed their young, by turns : 
they cast provision out of their craw into the 
young one’s mouth ; they drink, not by sip- 
ping," but by continued draughts like qua- 
drupeds. 
5. Columba palumbus, the ring-dove or 
COL 
wood-pigeon, is a native of Europe and 
Asia. It is the largest pigeon we have, and 
might be distinguished from all others by its 
size alone. Its weight is about 20 ounces ; 
its length 18, the breadth 30, inches. The 
head, back, and covers of the wings, are of 
a blueisli ash-colour : the lower side of the 
neck and breast are of a purplish red, dashed 
with ash-colour ; on the hind part of the neck 
is a semicircular line of white ; above and 
beneath that, the feathers are glossy, -and of 
changeable colours. This species forms its 
nest of a few dry sticks in. the boughs ol 
trees. Attempts have been made to do- 
mesticate them by hatching their eggs under 
the common pigeon in dove-houses ; but as 
soon as they could fly, they always took to 
'their proper haunts. In the beginning ot 
winter they assemble in great flocks, and 
leave off cooing, which they begin in March, 
when they pair. 
6. Columba passerina, or the ground-dove 
of Carolina, is about the size of a lark. The 
bill is yellow, and black at the end ; the iris 
red ; the breast and whole front of a change- 
able purple, with dark purple spots ; the legs 
and feet of a dirty yellow ; but the whole 
bird has such a composition of colours in it, 
that a very particular description is impos- 
sible. They fly in great numbers together, 
and make short flights from place to place, 
generally lighting on the ground. 
7. Columba turtur, or turtle-dove, is a 
native of India. The length is twelve inches 
and a half; its breadth twenty-one ; the 
weight four ounces. The irides are of a fine 
yellow, and the eye-lids encompassed with a 
beautiful crimson circle. The chin and fore- 
head are whitish ; the top of the head ash- 
coloured, mixed with olive. On each side 
of the neck is a spot of black feathers prettily 
tipt with white: the back ash-coloured, bor- 
dered with olive-brown: the scapulars and 
coverts of a reddish brown spotted with 
black: the breast of a light purplish red, 
having the verge of each feather yellow ; the 
belly white. Jn the breeding season these 
birds are found in Buckinghamshire, and 
in several parts of the west of England. 
They are very shy, and breed in thick woods, 
generally of oak; in autumn they migrate 
into other countries,. See PI. N. 11. fig. 139. 
COLUMN, Jn the military art, a long 
deep tile of troops or baggage. The first and 
second lines of the army as they are encamp- 
ed, make generally two columns on a march, 
tiling off either from the right or left: some- 
times the army marches in four, six, or eight 
columns, according as the ground will allow : 
and each column is led by a general officer. 
' Column. See Architecture. 
COLUMNA. See Anatomy. 
COLUMN BA, a genus of the angio- 
spermia order, in the didynamia class of 
plants ; and in tfle natural method ranking 
under the 40th order, personate. The calyx 
is quinquepartite ; the upper lip of the co- 
rolla arched and entire ; gibbous above the 
base; the anthers converted; the capsule 
bilocular. There are six species, natives of 
the East and W est Indies. 
COLURES, in astronomy and geogra- 
phy, two great circles supposed to intersect 
each other at right angles in the poles of the 
world, and to pass through the solstitial and 
equinoctial points of the ecliptic. See Geo - 
graphy. 
3 p5 
COLUTEA, bastard-sen a ; a genus of the 
decandria order, in the diadelphia class ol 
plants; and in the natural method ranking 
under the . 32d order, papitionaceae. M lie 
calyx is quinquelid ; the iegumen inflated, 
opening at the upper part of tiie base, iherc 
are nine species, deciduous flowering shrubs, 
adorned witlunany-lobed leaves, and butter- 
fly-shaped flowers, of a deep yellow or red 
colour. They are propagated both by seeds 
and layers, and are hardy enough, though 
they sometimes require a little shelter when 
the weather is very cold. 
COLYMBUS,’ diver, in ornithology, a 
genus of anseres. I he bill has no teeth, is 
subulated, straight, and sharp-pointed ; the 
teetli are in the throat ; the nostrils are 
linear, and at the base of the bill ; and 
the legs are unlit for walking. 11 Js genus 
includes several species, viz. the divers, guil- 
lemots, and grebes ; ot which the following 
are the most remarkable. 
1. The grylle, or black guillemot, is in 
length fourteen inches, in breadth twenty- 
two ; the bill is an inch and an halt long, 
straight, slender, and black ; the inside of 
the mouth red ; on each wing is a large bed 
of white, which in young birds is spotted ; 
except those in which the whole plumage is 
black, the legs are red. These birds are found 
on the Bass isle in Scotland ; in the island of St. 
Kilda ; and, as Mr. Ray imagines, in the 
Earn islands off the coast of Northumber- 
land, They have also been seen on the rocks 
of Llandidno, in Caernarvonshire, in Wales. 
Except in breeding-time, the grylle keeps 
always at sea’; and is very difficult to be shot, 
diving at the flash of the pan. The W elsh call 
this bird cascan longur, or “ the sailor’s ha- 
tred,” from a notion that its appearance fore- 
bodes a storm. 
2. The troile, or foolish guillemot, weighs 
24 ounces; its length is 17 inches, the 
breadth 27-£; the bill is three inches long, 
black, straight, and sharp-pointed ; the inside 
of the mouth yellow; the feathers on the 
upper part, of the bill are short and soft like 
velvet; from the eye to the hind part of the 
head is a small division of the feathers: the 
rest is of a deep mouse-colour. The chief 
places they are known to breed in are the 
uninhabited isle of Priestholm, near the isle 
of Anglesey ; on a rock called Godreve, not 
far from St. Ives ill Cornwall; the Earn isles, 
near the coast of Northumberland ; and the 
cliffs about Scarborough in Yorkshire. They 
are also found in most of the northern parts 
of Europe. 
3. The septentrional is, or red-throated 
diver, is more elegantly shaped than the 
others. It weighs three pounds. The length 
to the end of the tail is two feet ; to the toes 
two feet four inches ; the breadth three feet 
five inches. This species breeds in the north- 
ern parts of Scotland, on the borders of the 
lakes. It is found also in Russia, Siberia, 
and Kamtschatka ; but does not haunt the 
inland lakes. 
4/ The glacialis, or northern diver, is three 
feet five inches in length; the breadth four 
feet eight ; the bill to the corners of the 
mouth four inches long, black, and strongly- 
made. This species inhabits several parts 
of the north of Europe, but is not very fre- 
quent on our shores, nor ever seen south- 
ward except in very severe winters. It is 
seldom met. with on land, being for the most 
3 D 2 
