. A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada : the land birds . enduring considerable cold, and some remain evenin the Middle as well as the Southern States throughoutthe year; they are far less gregarious and migratory thanthe common Wild Pigeon. When their food becomesscanty in the fields, in the course of the winter, they ap-proach the farm, feeding among the poultry, with theBlackbirds, Sparrows, and other guests of the same acci-dental bounty, and, if allowed without reprisal, appear asgentle as domestic Doves. Raised from the nest, they areeasily tamed, and instances
. A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada : the land birds . enduring considerable cold, and some remain evenin the Middle as well as the Southern States throughoutthe year; they are far less gregarious and migratory thanthe common Wild Pigeon. When their food becomesscanty in the fields, in the course of the winter, they ap-proach the farm, feeding among the poultry, with theBlackbirds, Sparrows, and other guests of the same acci-dental bounty, and, if allowed without reprisal, appear asgentle as domestic Doves. Raised from the nest, they areeasily tamed, and instances are known of their breedingin confinement. Their flesh is also much esteemed, andby some considered as scarcely inferior to that of the Snipeor Woodcock. The length of this species is ahout 12 inches, alar extent 17. Billblackish, purplish red at the base ; feet also of the latter color. Crown PASSENGER PIGEON. 761 and upper part of the neck, greenish-blue. The general color abovepale yellowish-brown. Some of the inner wing-coverts spotted withblack. Below brownish-yellow. -s^-. PASSENGER PIGEON. (Columba migratoria, L. , v. p. 102. pi. 44. fig. 1. [male.]Alt. pi. 02. Orn. 310.) Spec. Charact.— Bluish-grey; belly white ; throat, breast, and sidesvinaccous ; tail black, of 12 feathers, the 5 lateral ones whitish. —Female paler, with the breast cinereous brown. — Young of a dullmuddy grey, spotted with whitish. The Wild Pigeon of America, so wonderful for its gre-garious habits, is met with more or less according to cir-cumstances, from Mexico to Hudsons Bay, in which inhos-pitable region they are even seen in December, weatheringthe severity of the climate with indifference, and supportingthemselves upon the meagre buds of the juniper, when theground is hidden by inundating snows. To the west they64* 762 PIGEON TRIBE. are found to the base of the Northern Andes or RockyMountains, but do not appear to be known beyond thisnatural barrier to their devious wanderi
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