WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON. 159 
Th 
t^j 6 size of the white-crowned pigeon has been 
5 »(1 -® ra ted by authors. Its length is fourteen inches, 
«ji r \ s extent twenty-three. The bill is one inch long, 
tji^ ' n e red at the base, the end from the nostrils 
polish white ; the irides are orange yellow, the 
in ,, c "'cle round the eye dusky white, becoming red 
t[| t j’ l! breeding season; the entire crown, including 
a fathers advancing far on the bill, is white, with 
°1 Cream colour, and is narrowly margined with 
slat 4 ’ "d'h'h passes insensibly into the general deep 
p&cur : on the nape of the neck is a small deep 
Ue c P ,s l> space changing to violet ; the remainder of the 
fe ath, 'd'ove, and on the sides, is covered by scale-like 
He,, bright green with bluish and golden reHcctions, 
W. ' I 11 ? as the light falls ; the sides of the head, the 
above, and whole inferior surface, the wings and 
q, } >ve and beneath — in short, the whole bird, without 
il^ception b ut the parts described, is of a uniform 
' v >th i 8 h slate, much lighter on the belly, more tinged 
do ‘ “Itte on the stout shafted rump feathers, somewhat 
W •'j> and approaching to brownish black on the 
''ill, ars : the quills are more of a dusky black ; the 
ar e nearly eight inches long, reaching, when 
'% ’> to two-thirds of the tail ; the first primary is 
tlij r| | " hat shorter than the fourth, and the second and 
the lr,; longest ; the third is curiously scalloped on 
fr 0lll l| t er web, which is much narrowed for two inches 
tiiiij he tip; all are finely edged with whitish; the 
VoJ r ' e Niches long, perfectly even, of twelve uniform 
ftd t ,' ea thers, with rounded tips ; the feet are carmine 
itiq, a® nails dusky ; the tarsus measures less than an 
shoj.J “eing subequal to the lateral toes, and much 
Hinn , ‘ 1 ' than the middle one. The female is perfectly 
'/■ The young are distinguished by duller tints, 
‘if n ! f ‘ crown is at first nearly uniform with the rest 
( ' ar k plumage : this part, after a time, changes 
'’'Hit , ’ then grayish white, and becomes whiter and 
1 as the bird grows older. It is proper to remark, 
has been said under the article of the band- 
' Pigeon, that the white colour extends equally 
