16 
THE KEY WEST PIGEON, OR DOVE. 
to the right, then to the left, then pushed forward, and raising his piece as 
he stopped, immediately fired. ‘ I have it,’ cried he. ‘ What ?’ cried I. 
‘ The Pigeon’ — and he disappeared. The heat was excessive, and the 
brushwood here was so thick and tangled, that had not Mr. Sykes been a 
United States soldier, 1 should have looked upon him as bent on retaliating 
on behalf of “ the eccentric naturalist for, although not more than ten 
paces distant from me, not a glimpse of him could I obtain. After crawl- 
ing to the spot I found him smoothing the feathers of a Pigeon which I had 
never seen, nay, the most beautiful yet found in the United States. How I 
gazed on its resplendent plumage ! — How I marked the expression of its 
rich-coloured, large and timid eye, as the poor creature was gasping its 
last breath ! Ah, how I looked on this lovely bird ! I handled it, turned 
it, examined its feathers and form, its bill, its legs and claws, weighed it 
by estimate, and after a while formed a winding-sheet for it of a piece of 
paper. Hid ever an Egyptian pharmacopoeist employ more care in embalm- 
ing the most illustrious of the Pharaohs, than I did in trying to preserve 
from injury this most beautiful of the woodland cooers ! 
“I never felt, nor did my companion, that our faces and hands were 
covered with musquitoes ; and although the perspiration made my eyes 
smart, I was as much delighted as ever I had been on such an occasion. 
We travelled onward, much in the same manner, until we reached the 
opposite end of the island ; but not another bird did we meet this day. 
“ As we sat near the shore gazing on the curious light pea-green colour of 
the sea, I unfolded my prize, and as I now more quietly observed the 
brilliant changing metallic hues of its plumage, I could not refrain from 
exclaiming — ‘ But who will draw it ?’ for the obvious difficulties of copy- 
ing nature struck me as powerfully as they ever had done, and brought to 
my memory the following passage : — 1 La nature se joue du pinceau des 
hommes ; — lorsqu’ on croit qu’il a atteint sa plus grande beaute, elle sourit 
et, s’embellit encore !’ ” 
We returned along the shore of this curious island to the garrison, after 
which Major Glassel’s barge conveyed me on board the Marion. 
I have taken upon myself to name this species the Key West Pigeon, 
and offer it as a tribute to the generous inhabitants of that island, who 
favoured me with their friendship. 
The flight of this bird is low, swift, and protracted. I saw several after- 
wards when they were crossing from Cuba to Key West, the only place in 
which I found them. It flies in loose flocks of from five or six to a dozen, 
with flappings having an interval apparently of six feet; so very low over 
the sea, that one might imagine it on the eve of falling into the water every 
moment.. It is fond .of going. out from the thickets early in the; morning 
