PIGEONS AND DOVES 
Pigeons and doves, found in all parts of the world, and the desert-living 
sandgrouse of Europe and Central Asia are the only living representatives 
of this order. Not so long ago, however, the dodo and the solitaire were 
also among the living members of this group. Dodoes, large birds once 
inhabiting the island of Mauritius, were killed by Dutch sailors shortly 
after the discovery of the island. The last dodo was clubbed to death in 
1681. The related solitaire, of nearby Reunion and Rodriguez islands, has 
also become extinct within the memory of man. 
The passenger pigeon, now extinct, formerly was present in great num¬ 
bers throughout Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. This blue-backed, red-fronted 
species was destroyed by human hunters. The last known specimen, a 
female, died in 1914 in a cage in the Cincinnati zoo. 
Pigeons are remarkable for the number of domesticated varieties pro¬ 
duced and for their economic value to man as food and as messengers. 
Carrier pigeons are trained by sportsmen, who teach them to “home” and 
race them for prizes. In wartime they serve as a flying liaison between 
widely separated units of military forces. Carriers surviving the loss of an 
eye and shrapnel wounds were cited and decorated by governments after 
the World War. Many pigeons live more than twenty years. 
Doves, the collective name of many smaller members of this order, 
are not readily distinguishable from pigeons. Numerous species inhabit the 
Indo-Malayan and the Indo-Australian regions where they originated; from 
those areas members of the group have dispersed to all corners of the globe. 
“Pigeon milk” is a nutritious secretion produced in the crops of adult 
birds and fed by them to their offspring. 
Doves: Mourning Dove. 
Pigeons: Domesticated Pigeons. 
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