186 
PASSENGER TURTLE. 
low in their rear, would find his labour completely 
lost.” 
Beech-mast and acorns, produced in incredible 
quantities by the primeval American forests, consti- 
tute a great proportion of the food of these birds ; 
but great quantities of buckwheat, hempseed, Indian 
corn, rice, hollyberries, hackberries, and other small 
fruits, are also consumed in their respective seasons. 
They commence breeding early in spring, and are 
said to produce two or three broads in the year, each 
hatching, according to Wilson, consisting of a single 
young one. Audubon, however, mentions, tliat they 
lay two pure white eggs, of a broadly elliptical form, 
and further adds, “ It is a remarkable fact, that each 
brood generally consists of a male and female.” 
Judging from analogy, and the habits of other near- 
ly allied species, we are inclined to think that Wil- 
son, who does not profess to have ascertained the 
fact from observations made by himself, must have 
been misinformed upon this point by those who gave 
him the information. The nest is composed of slen- 
der twigs loosely put together, and, like that of the 
Ring Pigeon or Turtle, has little or no concavity. 
Upon the approach of the breeding season, the male 
pays court to the other sex by sundry and oft-re- 
peated gesticulations, accompanied by cooing notes, 
and the billing observed in many other species is also 
practised by them. The flesh of the old birds is of 
a dark colour, and rather hard and dry. The young 
or squabs, are, however, stated to be excellent, and 
