WOOD PIGEON. 163 
legs, which are feathered below the knee, and the toes, are 
purple red, darkest behind—they are covered with scales. 
Claws, dark brown. 
The female differs very little from the male—the colours 
not so bright. Length, one foot five inches and a quarter. 
The wings expand to the width of two feet four inches. The 
tail tinged with brown. 
The young are at first covered with pale yellow down, and 
haye the eyes closed by a film, through which the pupil of 
the eye may be plainly seen, for nine days after they are 
hatched. When fully fledged they are of the same colours as 
the adult, but duller in tint, and tinged with brown, the 
white ring and the iridescent hues being wanting. After the 
first moult the plumage is complete, but becomes afterwards 
somewhat deeper and purer. Varieties have sometimes been 
met with spotted with white. A liver-eoloured one was shot 
by Mr. George Johnson, of Melton Ross, Lincolnshire. 
