pens

73

COLUMBIDEÆ.

seeking their own food immediately. Finally, a striking character removes the pigeons from the gallinaceous birds, and in M. Vieillot's opinion places them in the same natural group with the Passeres, namely, the possession of a posterior toe articulated at the bottom of the tarsus, upon the same plane as the anterior toes, touching the ground throughout its length in walking and embracing the roost in perching. On the contrary, in the gallinaceous birds, the hind toe is articulated upon the tarsus higher than the others, and only touches the ground with its claw, or at most with its first phalanx, and remains perpendicular when the bird is on the perch. Nevertheless it must be confessed that there are found among the pigeons species which participate in some degree with the gallinaceous birds in regard to their manners and gait (allures) or some exterior conformity. Such are the Colombi-Gallines, the Pigeon-Caille of Le Vaillant, to which must be added the Colombi-Gallines of M. Temminck, the Mountain-Partridge of Sloane, the Blue-Headed Pigeon, the Cocotzin, &c., all which have their feet more elongated than those of their congeners, with the wings of the partridges, that is to say rounded, and with the two first quills shorter than the third or fourth; but for the rest, all, with the exception of the Colombe-Galline of Le Vaillant, approach the other pigeons in their amours, their laying, and the bringing up of their young; and so it is of the birds which at Guadaloupe and Martinique bear the name of Partridge; and M. Vieillot quotes Dutertre, who says that "according to the common opinion of the inhabitants of Guadaloupe, there are three sorts of partridges, red, black, and gray, which have never passed in my mind for aught but turtles (tourterelles); for they have not the short quality of flesh belonging to our partridges, they have the straight bill, they perch and build their nests in trees, they only lay two eggs," These facts, adds M. Vieillot, &c. (Hist. des Antilles,' tom. ii.) have been confirmed to me by the inhabitants of Martinique and Guadaloupe. Of all the pigeons and turtles, continues this ornithologist, which I have had occcasion to study in the living state, the Cocotzins are those which appear to me to have the greatest relation to the partridges; their haunt is always in the fields and savannahs; there they seek their food, and never resort to trees; they raise themselves into the air like the partridges, and after a short flight alight But the habit of upon the ground. For this reason the English and the inhabitants of the United States call it the Ground Dove. frequenting the ground, &c. does not belong exclusively to the pigeons whose wings are formed as above stated; for, according to Latham, the Columba Chalcoptera (Phaps), which M. Temminck arranges with his Columba (Vieillot's first section), has the same habits, so that the English of Australia call it the Ground Pigeon. (Vieillot.)

"The family of Columbida (says Mr. Vigors, 'Linn. Trans.,' vol. xiv. p. 410), alternately arranged by systematic writers among the Perching and Gallinaceous orders, and not unfrequently grouped as a separate order between the two, at once indicates where the point of junction exists between them. These birds, although we have the high authority of Linnæus for uniting them with that division of our Perchers which forms his Passeres, I do not hesitate in arranging, conformably to the opinion of Messrs. Cuvier and Illiger, as a subdivision of the Gallinaceous Birds.

66

"In those particulars, where they respectively assume the character
of each order, their affinity with the latter is considerably stronger
than that which approximates them to the former. Their food and
habits, their internal economy, and the formation of their bills,
identify them with the Rasores; while, on the other hand, the cha-
racters which bring them near the Insessores, their divided toes and
comparatively short legs, are weakened by the resemblance which
those members bear to the same parts of the contiguous order in their
general structure, and more particularly in the bluntness of the nails,
so strongly indicative of the rasorial habits of the Gallinaceous Tribes,
and so strikingly contrasted with the sharpness of the nails in the
Linnæan Passeres. They are much more nearly allied to these latter
tribes by their habits of perching and building their nests in trees or
rocks, by the absence of the spur on the legs of the male, and by the
inferior number of their tail-feathers."

In a note to that part of the text which alludes to the rasorial
habits of the Gallinaceous Birds, the author cites the habits of
Columba Nicobarica, Columba carunculata, and Columba passerina.
Mr. Vigors accordingly places the Columbide in the aberrant group
of his Rasores. "I have already observed, when speaking of the affi-
nities," says that ornithologist in the paper above quoted, "which
connect the orders of birds together, that the Columbida form the
passage from the Insessores to the Rasores by their habits of perching
and their powers of flight. The hind toe is articulated, as in the
Perchers, and their tarsi are shorter, more particularly in the earlier
groups, than those of the Gallinaceous Birds in general. The first
group which we meet in this extensive family is the genus Vinago of
M. Cuvier, the bills of which, stronger and more solid than they are
usually found to be among the pigeons, unite them to Penelope and
Crax, which form the opposite extreme of the present order, as well
as to Musophaga and Corythaix, which approach, as we have seen, the
whole of the groups before us, and connect them with the Perchers.
From this genus Vinago, which seems confined to the southern divi-
sions of the Old World, we may observe a series of groups leading

COLUMBIDÆ.

74

gradually to the true Columba, of which genus the European species
we are led by several intervening species to the Columbi-Gallines of
Columba Enas, Linn., may be considered to form the type. Hence
M. Le Vaillant, which, still retaining the soft and flexible bill of
Columba, approach the typical Gallinaceous Birds in their more ele-
vated tarsi, and in their habits of living in company and seeking their
some forms, C. Nicobarica, Linn., and C. carunculata, Temm., for
nourishment chiefly on the ground. Among these may be noticed
instance, which possess the feathered appendages, together with the
naked face and caruncles of the Linnæan Gallina; and another group,
This last-mentioned genus, formed of the
the Lophyrus of M. Vieillot, which exhibits the size and general form
of the same birds, as well as the singular plumes which frequently
decorate their head.
crowned pigeon of India, possessing the strongly-formed leg and foot
of Meleagris, Linn., but without the spurs, while at the same time it
retains the bill of Columba, may be observed to open the passage
immediately from the present to the succeeding family" (the
Phasianida).

The following remarks embody Mr. Swainson's views upon this
interesting family :-"The extensive genus of Columba, like that of
Falco, has been pronounced indivisible by an eminent ornithologist of
the present day; who, from having made these birds his peculiar
opinion. The principle he has laid down, and on which this opinion
study, is in one sense pre-eminently qualified to give a decided
consequently is founded, is, that whenever intermediate species are
discovered which serve to unite two neighbouring genera, such genera
continues: "It is admitted that there are certain peculiarities of form
should invariably be united." After stating that this theory has been
refuted in the pages of the 'Zoological Journal,' Mr. Swainson thus
and of economy among the Columbida, which point out natural divi-
sions. Some of these have been used for the construction of genera,
by Messrs. Le Vaillant, Vieillot, and Cuvier, and of sections by M. Tem-
As we labour under a comparative ignorance of the
minck; but the immense number of species already known, and the
great influx of new ones, renders it essential that many others should
be formed.
natural economy of the vast number of tropical species fecently
described, any attempt to throw the Columbida into their natural
rest on their natural habits, their food, and their geographic distribu-
arrangement must be very imperfect. The basis of such a work must
We may note the forms
tion. Yet, as we see in other natural families that a peculiarity of
economy is almost invariably accompanied by some corresponding
modification of structure, we shall receive considerable assistance by
of the group; and although our inference in some cases may be
accurately examining such variations.
without being acquainted with their reference to the peculiar habits
erroneous, in others we shall not be far from the truth. The pas-
any of the others—a sure indication of that rapid and long-continued
senger-pigeons, for instance, have their first quill-feather as long as
ened tarsi; a structure well adapted to those ambulating habits
power of flight they are known to possess. The Columbi-Gallines of
M. Le Vaillant are described as having naked and somewhat length-
Vaillant (Vinago, Cuv., Tréron, Vieill.), have a strong hard bill; and
which bring some of them close to the Phasianida, Vigors, and others
to the Cracida, Vigors. Another group, the Colombars of M. Le
their short clasping tarsi covered with feathers lead us to conclude
they seldom perch upon the ground; in fact, Messrs. Le Vaillant
we see another group, wherein the bill partakes of that weak structure
and Cuvier both assert that these birds are only found in the tropical
forests of the Old World. Apparently confined to the same regions,
seem to be the principal divisions among the Columbida." In 1827
observed in the generality of pigeons, while the tarsi are thickly
clothed with feathers, similar to the group last mentioned. These
the same author characterised the genera Peristera, Chomepelia, and
Ectopistes; and in the 'Fauna Boreali-Americana,' under Columba
Ectopistes migratoria, he has the following note:-"As ornithologists
do not appear to be aware of the great difference which exists in the
wood-pigeons of Europe, North America, and the Old World, forming
groups of this family in the relative structure of their feet, we shall
here draw their attention to the principal groups. In the even-tailed
the restricted genus Columba, the external and internal anterior toes
are equal. In the lovely genus Ptilinopus, Swainson, confined to the
green pigeons of the Indian and Australian isles, and in that of Vinago,
Cuv., formed by the thick-billed species of the same countries, the
inner toe is much shorter than the outer; but in the sub-genus (?)
Ectopistes, Swainson, and the small turtle doves, this proportion is
reversed, the inner toe being the longest. In the beautiful genus
Peristera, Swainson, which comprises all the bronze-winged pigeons
of Australia and the ground-pigeons of America, the tarsi are more
elevated, the hind toe shorter, and the inner toe is likewise the
Dr. Ritgen (1828) makes the genus Columba, Linn., form
longest. We have been for some time engaged in analysing this
family, with the view of ascertaining the relative value of all these
groups."
the third family (Herpochoropteni) of his first tribe (Choropteni), of his
second series (Xerornithes, or birds of the dry land) in his tricho-
tomous system, as applied to birds.

P. J. Selby, Esq., in the 'Naturalist's Library' (1835), characterises the following genera, Carpophaga, Phaps, and Geophilus. He thus speaks of the classification:-"Of the sub-families or five typical

COLUMBIDE.

78

with fat as frequently, when shot, to burst asunder when they fall to
some species, and upon this luxurious diet they become so loaded
the ground. And here we may remark on the remarkable provision
nature has made for the propagation as well as the dissemination of
this valuable spice; for the nutmeg itself, which is generally swallowed
with the whole of its pulpy covering, passes uninjured through the
digestive organs of the bird, and is thus dispersed throughout the
group of the Moluccas and other islands of the east. Indeed, from
repeated experiments, it appears that an artificial preparation ana-
logous to that which it undergoes in its passage through the bird, is
necessary to ensure the growth and fertility of the nut; and it was
not till after many unsuccessful attempts had been made that a
lixivium of lime, in which the nuts were steeped for a certain time,
was found to have the wished-for effect, and to induce the germinat-
ing tendency. The fruit of the Banyan (Ficus religiosa), the sacred
tree of the Hindoos, is also a favourite repast of all the pigeons of this
group, as well as of the stronger-billed Vinago."

C. oceanica. It is the Columba oceanica of Lesson. This species,
according to Lesson, is the Moulouesse, or Mouleux, of the natives of
Oualan, and though it approaches the Nutmeg Pigeon, Columba
"The
(Carpophaga) aenea, very nearly, it differs from it in size, being one-
third less, and in the distribution of some of its colours.
Nutmeg Pigeon lives more particularly in the eastern Moluccas, and
especially at New Guinea and Waigiou, while the Oceanic Fruit-
Pigeon is abundant in the little isle of Oualan, in the midst of the
great archipelago of the Carolines, and seems to exist in the Pelew
Islands, where Wilson mentions it under the name of cyep." Lesson
further observes, that it may be possibly spread over the Philippines,
and at Magindanao.

Ptilinopus cyano-virens.

Description.-Total length from the end of the bill to the extremity of the tail, 8 inches 6 lines (French); bill delicate and black; iris of a red-brown; tarsi short, and nearly entirely feathered; toes with a membranous border, and of a lively orange colour; head, rump, upper part of the body, wings, and tail, of an agreeable grass-green; a large patch (calotte) of a beautiful indigo-blue covers the occiput; elongated blue spots occupy the centre of the subalar feathers, which are bordered with a straight yellow line; the internal and hidden part of the same feathers is brown; the quills are entirely brown, and bordered at the external edge with a line of canary yellow; the tail is square and rectilinear; the feathers which compose it are fourteen in number, brown, their extremities white below, and of a green similar to that of the back above, passing into black in the middle, and each terminating within with a white spot; the two exterior ones are brown, bordered with yellow externally, as are the two or three next; the shaft is brown; the throat to half-way down the neck is ash-gray; the breast is grayish-green; the belly and the flanks are at first green mingled with some yellow borderings, and then comes a large patch of yellowish-white extending on each side so as to form a kind of girdle; the feathers of the thighs are green; those of the vent, white and pale yellow; the lower tail-coverts are yellow mingled with green. M. Lesson mentions another individual rather smaller, with some differences of plumage, which he supposes to have been either a female or a young one. Mr. Selby remarks upon the fact that no notice is taken of the form of the first quill-feather in this description, and regrets it, but entertains little or no doubt of its presence in nearly a similar form to that assumed by the rest of this group, of which P. purpuratus is the type.

Carpophaga (Selby).-"In this group," says Mr. Selby, "which is composed of birds of a much larger size than the preceding, the wings, though possessing the same relative proportions, have no emargination, or sudden narrowing of the tip of the first quill. Their tarsi also are not so thickly or entirely feathered; and their nostrils are placed nearer to the base of the bill. In some species, green, yellow, and purple are the prevailing colours; in others, a rich bronzed or metallic colour composes the upper plumage, exhibiting shades of deep green and purple, according to the light in which it is viewed, while in those which lead the way to the typical pigeons, the tints become less vivid and more uniform in their distribution. Their bill is considerably depressed at the base, the membrane in which the nostrils are placed but little prominent or swollen, the tip compressed and moderately arched, the tomia slightly sinuated. The forehead is low, and the feathers advance considerably upon the soft portion of the bill. In many of them a caruncle, or gristly knob, varying in size and shape according to the species, grows upon the basal part of the upper mandible during the season of propagation. This is supposed to be common to both sexes, as the female is described with it in Duperrey's 'Voyage.' After this epoch it is rapidly absorbed, and its situation scarcely to be observed upon the surface of the bill. The feet are powerful, and formed for grasping, the soles being flat and greatly extended. As in the other members of this group, the hind toe is fully developed and long, and the exterior longer than the inner toe. They inhabit the forests of India, the Moluccas, Celebes, Australia, and the Pacific Isles. Their food consists of fruits and berries. That of the precious nutmeg, or rather its soft covering, known to us by the name of mace, at certain seasons affords a favourable repast to

Oceanic Fruit-Pigeon (Carpophaga occanica).

Description.-Total length, 14 inches (French), including the tail, which measures five; the bill, an inch long, is black, strong, and surmounted at its base by a rounded and very black caruncle; the feet are very strong and of a bright orange colour; the tarsi are feathered nearly down to the toes, which have a well-developed border; the wings are pointed, and only one inch shorter than the tail, which is almost rectilinear. The feathers of the forehead, cheeks and throat, are whitish mixed with gray; the head and the back of the neck are of a deep slaty gray; the back, rump, wing-coverts, quills, and tail-feathers, are of a uniform metallic green, passing into brown on the interior of the great feathers; the breast and upper part of the belly are gray, with a tint of rust-colour; the lower part of the belly, the vent, the thighs, and the lower tail-coverts, are a deep ferruginous red; the tail-feathers on the under side are a bright reddish-green (vert rougeâire clair). (Lesson.)

M. Lesson thinks that this, very probably, is the species mentioned by "the celebrated naturalist, Forster (and not Captain Forster, as the reading is, twice, in M. Temminck's work, tom. i. p. 89, 8vo), who observed in the Isle of Tanna, one of the New Hebrides (Cook's 'Second Voyage,' vol. iii. p. 179, 4to), a Nutmeg Pigeon of the same species as that which occurred at the Friendly Islands."

The caruncle shown in the cut is dissipated after the breeding season, leaving nothing but a slight cutaneous wrinkle. M. Lesson says that the bird feeds on a berry which is very abundant in the Mr. Selby gives as a form apparently belonging to this division of small Isle of Oualan, and that it is not disturbed by the natives. the Columbida, the following species: Columba Phasianella (Temm.), that of Vinago and Columba, and the feet formed upon the same the structure of the bill being, as he observes, intermediate between plan as those of the rest of the Ptilinopina.

Description.-Length from 14 to 16 inches, the tail being seven, and rather more. Wings short, reaching, when closed, about an inch and a half beyond the root of the tail, rounded, and with the third quill longest; the first and fourth being equal to each other. Bill, measuring from the forehead, nearly three quarters of an inch long; the tip of the upper mandible moderately arched, and with a notch; that of the lower angulated and strong; throat, yellowish-white; head, sides, and front of the neck, and whole of the under plumage orange-brown; hinder part of the neck changeable rich violet-purple, with brilliant gold reflections; back, wing-coverts, and the rest of the upper plumage, deep reddish-brown, shot with bronze in some lights; tail graduated or cuneiform, the two middle feathers brown, the lateral marked obliquely with a black bar; feet and naked part of legs reddish-brown; sole of the hind and inner toes much expanded. Young differing from the adult in having the neck dirty reddishbrown, with narrow bars of black; belly of a pale reddish-gray, minutely and darkly speckled; back inclining to hair-brown; and smaller wing-coverts deeply edged with orange-brown.

M. Temminck first described the species in the 'Linnæan Transactions,' from an Australian specimen. It has since been observed in most of the Philippine and Molucca Islands, Java, &c.

Columba Phasianella is an inhabitant of the woods. Its food is said to consist of a kind of pimento and of other aromatic berries, swallowed entire. The flesh is dark, but its flavour is stated to be excellent.

Columba Phasianella.

that the only point of resemblance consists in the length of the tail. Indeed, so far removed do we think it from the American group, that we cannot consider it as its analogue in the Asiatic regions where it resides."

Columba, Auct.-Most ornithologists are agreed that the sub-family Columbina contains the type of the form of the Columbido, and that we are to look among the species of our own country for that type. The Ring-Pigeon, Cushat or Queest (C. Palumbus), the Wood-Pigeon (C. Enas), and the Rock-Pigeon or Biset (C. livia), are considered to be the forms in which the peculiarity of structure and habits of the family are most perfectly developed, and of these C. Palumbus is generally taken as the typical point of comparison. The Columbino are distinguished by a bill of moderate strength, with a hard tip, bulging and somewhat arched. The nostrils are partly clothed by a soft membrane, and the orbits of the eyes are more or less denuded of feathers. The feet may be called both gressorial and insessorial; for they are so organised, that the action of walking or perching may be performed at pleasure, for the back toe is moderately long, and the claws are so formed and placed as not to interfere with terrestrial progression, while they are at the same time calculated for arboreal prehension. In the types the exterior and interior toes are of equal length. The wings are fully developed and somewhat pointed; the second and third quills are the longest. The tail is generally square, and moderately long.

"In those species," says Mr. Selby, in the work above quoted, "which are the media of connection with other groups, the above characters become partially modified, as we see exemplified in the species nearest allied to the Ptilinopina, or arboreal pigeons, their feet losing the true character of that of the common pigeon, and assuming more of the grasping form than that fitted for progress upon the ground."

The species are very numerous, and spread over every quarter of the globe.

"The prevailing colour of the pigeons is bluish-gray, of various intensities and shades, frequently embellished upon the neck with feathers having a metallic lustre and peculiar form, and which exhibit various tints of colour according to the light in which they are viewed. They are naturally birds of a wild and timid disposition (though one species has been partly reclaimed), and usually live congregated in extensive flocks, except during the season of reproduction, when they pair. Most of the species seek their food upon the ground. This consists of the different Cerealia, as also acorns, beech-mast, and other seeds, and occasionally of the green and tender leaves of particular plants. Their flesh is sapid and nutritious, being of a warm and invigorating nature. Their flight is powerful, very rapid, and can be long sustained, and many species are in the habit of making distant periodical migrations. They are widely disseminated, species of the genus being found in every quarter of the globe, and in all climates, except the frozen regions of the two hemispheres. They build in trees or holes of rocks, making a shallow nest of small twigs loosely put together. Their eggs are never more than two in number, their colour a pure white; they are incubated alternately by both sexes, and are hatched after being sat upon from eighteen to twenty-one days. The young, upon exclusion, are thinly covered with down, which is rapidly succeeded by the proper feathers." (Selby.) The apparatus for preparing the food for the nestlings has been before adverted to. C. spadicea. Mr. Selby places this species as connecting the arboreal species with the typical pigeons, but arranges it under the Columbina, not without doubt, "for although it presents characters in some of its members approaching those of the pigeons, it cannot be denied that, in its general appearance, and the metallic lustre of its plumage, it also shows evident marks of a near-affinity to several species of the genus Carpophaga, and it might perhaps with equal propriety be placed at the extremity of that group;" and regrets the little inforhave assisted in forming a more satisfactory conclusion as to its proper position. He adds, that from the form and size of the feet we may judge that its habits are more those of an arboreal than terrestrial bird, though its claws want the great curvature of those of the Phili nopina, and show its capability of occasionally resorting to the ground for food. M. Lesson, who killed many individuals of this brilliant pigeon, described by Latham and figured by Temminck, says that its flesh is excellent, and that it is very abundant in the woods about the Bay of Ipiripi, or the Bay of Islands. The first which he procured was killed and sent to the expedition by one of the officers of the Coquille; and Toui, chief of the hippah of Kaouera, near which she was moored, brought them frequently on board. He adds, that the individual described by Latham as the Chestnut-Shouldered Pigeon came from Norfolk Island, not far from New Zealand, and that M. Temminck indicates the Friendly or Tonga Islands as its native country. This locality M. Lesson, from whom the following description is taken, seems to doubt.

Mr. Selby makes the group to contain Columba Macroura, Auct.;mation extant of its peculiar habits and mode of life, which would C. nuchalis, Wagler; and C. Reinwardtii, Temm. "Of its precise situation," says Mr. Selby, "in the circle of the Columbida, we speak with some degree of doubt, not having had an opportunity of instituting so strict an analysis of the species as the subject requires; but we believe it will be found to enter among the Ptilinopina, or arboreal pigeons, as the feet and tarsi of its members are similar in form to those of that division, the latter being very short and partly plumed below the joint, the former with the exterior toe longer than the inner, and the hinder toe fully developed; the sole of the foot, by the extension of the membrane, is broad and expansive, and the claws are arched and strong, all of which are characters evidently showing these members to be expressly adapted for perching and prehension, and not for gressorial movements. The bill also in one species (C. Reinwardtii) approaches in point of strength nearly to that of Vinago, and in all of them the tip of both mandibles is hard and firm, the upper one with a visible emargination and moderately arched. Their habits and mode of life are also nearly allied to the other arboreal species, being the constant inhabitants of the woods, and subsisting upon the fruits and berries of various trees and shrubs. M. Temminck, in his description of this species, says that it possesses a structure and form precisely similar to that of the C. migratoria of North America. To this we cannot subscribe, seeing that its essential characters, as above described, are different, and

Total length, 164 inches (French)-English authors give it as from 19 to 20 inches; tail 6 inches, nearly rectilineal, and slightly notched; bill rather swollen near the point of the lower mandible, of a brilliant carmine at its base as well as the feet, the tarsi of which are feathered almost to the toes. The eyes are surrounded with a bright-red membrane, and the iris is of the same colour. All the upper parts of the

Columba spadicea.

"besides the

C. dilopha. "In this curious species," says Mr. Selby, occipital crest, an ornament which is found in many other birds, there is an additional one in front, composed of long recurved and lax feathers, which not only occupy the forehead, but also the superior part of the soft or basal portion of the bill. This double crest gives the head of the pigeon a character unlike any of its congeners, and more resembling that of some of the crested Phasianida or Cracida, with which an analogical relation is thus sustained. In other respects

Columba dilopha.

COLUMBIDE.

82

The size of this bird is nearly that of C. spadicea. Wings long and powerful, reaching when closed beyond the middle of the tail, second, the first. Bill rich orange, tip of under mandible obliquely truncated, third, and fourth feathers longest and nearly equal, fifth shorter than tip of upper mandible compressed, somewhat arched, culmen rounded. behind the horny tip and above the nostrils, composed of long curved Frontal crest beginning on the upper part of the bill immediately feathers, soft and loose in texture, and bluish-gray tinged with rufous in colour, pointing backwards. Occipital crest rich rufous, bounded on each side from the posterior angle of the eye by a streak of glossy black, decumbent, composed also of long soft feathers with open barbules, each feather widening towards the tip. Side and front of neck and breast pale gray, black at the base of the feathers, which is hid. The feathers here are trifid at the end: on the back of the neck they are acuminated, but not distinctly divided as upon the breast. Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts deep bluish-gray, the feathers darker at the margin; quills and secondaries bluish-black; under plumage gray. Tail square, basal part and narrow band pale gray tinged with reddish, tip and broad intermediate bar black; length 7 inches. Naked parts of tarsi and toes crimson-red; hind toe strong, with a broad flat sole, and exceeding the tarsus in length; nails long and somewhat curved. It is found in Australia and Java. C. Palumbus, the Cushat. It is the Ramier of the French; Torquato, Ghiandaria, &c., of the Italians, according to Belon; Colombaccio, Palombo, Piccione da Ghianda of the same, according to Prince Bonaparte; Ringdufwa of the 'Fauna Suecica;' Wild-Taube and RingelTaube of the Germans; Ring-Dove, Queest, and Cushat of the British; Ysguthan of the Welsh, and in Belon's opinion the párra of the Greeks.

Temminck, its characters agree with those of C. spadicea, the proportion of the wings and the form of the feet being nearly the same. who first described it, observes, "Cette nouvelle espèce a le plus de rapports dans toutes ses formes avec la Columba spadicea, et toutes les deux sont très peu différentes de notre Ramier d'Europe."

NAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. II.

The Cushat most probably sat for the pretty picture of Virgil's It is considered the type of the Columbinæ. 'aëriae palumbes.' Instances have been known of its laying in aviaries, and Mr. Selby states that a pair of ring-pigeons in one of the aviaries of the Zoological Gardens "built their nest in a tree or shrub contained within it, and that the female laid two eggs, which unfortunately were destroyed by some accident during incubation. This fact shows that under favourable circumstances, and when the habits of the bird are attended to, a progeny may be obtained."

C. Enas. It is the Palombella, Palombella di Macchia, Piccione Topacchio of the Italians; Le Pigeon Sauvage of Brisson; Stock-Dove Mr. Selby observes, "Near as it and Wood-Pigeon of the British. approaches the common pigeon in size and form, no mixed breed that we are aware of has ever been obtained between them, although our mind appears a strong and convincing proof that all the varieties repeated attempts to effect an intercourse have been made. This in one and the same stock, and not from crosses with other species, as generally known by the name of Fancy Pigeons have originated from some have supposed, the produce of which, even could it be occasionally obtained, we have no doubt would prove to be barren, or what are generally termed mules."

C. livia. This-the Pigeon Privé of Bélon; Le Pigeon Domestique, Le Biset, and Le Rocheraye, of Brisson; Coulon, Colombe, Pigeon, of the French; Palombella, Piccione di Torre, Piccione di Rocca, of the Italians; Feld-Taube, Haus-Taube, Hohl-Taube, Blau-Taube, and HoltzTaube, of the Germans; Wild Rock-Pigeon of the British; Colommen of the Welsh-is the stock from which ornithologists generally now agree that the domestic pigeon and its varieties are derived. "Under this species," writes Mr. Selby, "we include not only the common pigeon, or inhabitant of the dove-cot, but all those numerous varieties, or, as they are frequently termed, races of domesticated pigeons, so highly prized, and fostered with such care and attention by the amateur breeder or pigeon fancier; for, however diversified their forms, colour, or peculiarity of habit may be, we consider them all as having originated from a few accidental varieties of the common pigeon, and not from any cross of that bird with other species, no signs or marks whatever of such being apparent in any of the numerous varieties known to us. In fact, the greater part of them owe their existence to the interference and the art of man; for by separating from the parent stock such accidental varieties as have occasionally occurred, by subjecting these to captivity and domestication, and by assorting them and pairing them together as fancy or caprice suggested, he has at intervals generated all the various races and peculiar varieties which it is well known when once produced may be perpetuated for an indefinite period, by being kept separate from and unmixed with others, or what by those interested in such pursuits is usually termed 'breeding in and in.' Such also, we may add, is the opinion of the most eminent naturalists as to their origin, and it is strongly insisted on by M. Temminck in his valuable work the 'Histoire Générale Naturelle des Pigeons.' Indeed the fact that all the varieties, however much they may differ in colour, size, or other particulars, if permitted, breed freely and indiscriminately with each other, and produce a progeny equally prolific, is another and a convincing proof of their common and self-same origin; for it is one which if once set aside or not enforced would plunge all animated of those universal laws of nature, extending even to plants, and one matter into indescribable confusion, that the offspring produced by of further increase. That such an intercourse may be effected is well the intercourse of different species, that is, distinct species, is incapable