204 
PERISTERA 
trees or shrubs to roost. Their flight is generally 
low, of short continuance, and by quick repeated 
strokes of the wings. Many make their nest upon 
the ground, others upon low bushes ; and it is be- 
lieved that all lay but two eggs each hatching, in 
which respect they resemble the more Typical Pi- 
geons. 
Their generic characters are as follows : — Bill 
slender, the tip of the upper mandible slightly de- 
flected, with a distinct emargination. Wings round- 
ed, concave, the first quill short, and, in some in- 
stances, abraptly attenuated ; third and fourth fea- 
thers the longest, and nearly equal ; exterior webs 
of the second, third, and fourth quills deeply sinua- 
ted. Legs, the tarsus as long as or longer than the 
middle toe, the front covered with a row of large 
imbricated scales, the sides and hinder part naked. 
Toes entirely divided, the inner toe longer than the 
outer. Claws moderately arched, blunt. Tail slight- 
ly rounded. 
The first we have to notice is rather an aberrant 
form of the group, and appears to be one of the con- 
necting links which more immediately unites it with 
the turtles ; it is the 
