Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

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Common or stock pigeon, or stock dove.—Bluish 5 neck
above glossy green-, double band on the wings, and tip
of the tail blackish throat and breast claret colour •,
claws black. Length 13 or 14 inches; weight 11
ounces. Inhabits Europe and Siberia; is wild in many
places, but is kept in pigeon-houses every where, and
is the parent stock whence all the varieties of the do¬
mestic pigeon are derived, and is on that account called
the stock-dove. It build in towers, in caverns of rocks,
and in cliffs in unfrequented islands. On the approach
of winter, it migrates southward. It is gregarious ; lays
two eggs, and breeds several times in the year.
Domestic pigeon.—Cinereous; rump white; band on
the wings, and tip of the tail blackish. The varieties
are, however, very numerous, and not easily reducible to
distinct descriptions. Some of the more remarkable are,
the rock, Roman, Barhary, jacobinc, shaker, tumbler,
carrier, horseman, and turner pigeons. From 14 to 15
inches long. Inhabits and is domesticated in almost
every part of Europe and Asia, and lays from nine to
11 times a year. Though only two eggs are laid at a
time, at the expiration of four years, the produce and
descendants of a single pair may amount to nearly
15,000. A composition of loam, old rubbish and salt,
will not only entice birds of this species to remain in a
required spot, hut will even decoy those belonging to
other places, and is therefore prohibited by law. The
carrier pigeon is easily distinguished from the other va¬
rieties, by a broad circle of naked white skin round the
eyes, and by its dark blue or blackish colour. rI he bird
is conveyed from its home to the place whence the in¬
formation is intended to be sent; the letter is tied under
its wing, and it is let loose. From the instant ot its
liberation, its flight is directed through the clouds, at
an amazing height, to its home, and it darts onward in
a straight line to the very spot from which it was taken,
by virtue of some faculty or instinct which it is very
difficult to explain. To measure their speed with some
degree of exactness, a gentleman some years ago, on a
trifling wager, sent a carrier pigeon from London, by
the coach, to a friend at St Edmund’s-bury, and along
with it a note, requesting that the pigeon, two days alter
its arrival there, might be thrown up precisely when the
town-clock struck nine in the morning. This was ac¬
cordingly done, and the pigeon arrived in London, and
flew into the Bull Inn in Bishop’s-Gate Street, at half
an hour past eleven o’clock of the same morning, hav¬
ing flown 72 miles in two hours and a half.
Great crowned Indian pigeon.—Bluish ; cinereous
above; orbits black; crest; shoulders ferruginous. Size
of a turkey. Inhabits New Guinea.
Lesser crowned pigeon.—Eyelids white ; hind bead
with a red gold crest; breast and belly violet; back,
rump, and tail green ; legs yellow ; hind toe unarmed.
Size of the common pigeon. Inhabits Malacca.
Ringdove.—Cinereous; tail feathers black on thehind
part; primary quill feathers whitish on the outer edge;
neck white on each side ; bill yellowish ; cere red and
scurfy; irides yellowish ; head, back, and wing-coverts
bluish; rump and throat pale ash ; breast claret colour;
belly and vent whitish; neck above and at the sides
H O L O G Y.
green gold, with a white crescent on each side ; feet
rough as far as the toes. Weighs about 20 ounces ;
length eight inches. Inhabits Europe, and rarely Sibe¬
ria. From its living in woods, and building in trees, it
is not uncommonly called wood pigeon. It seems to be
originally a native of this island, and probably migrates
no farther than from the northern to the southern parts
of it. Early in spring it begins to pair, at which time
the male is observed to fly in a singular manner, alter¬
nately rising and falling in the air. It forms a nest of
a few small sticks loosely put together. Its common
food is grain and seeds of all kinds, acorns and beech¬
nuts, and in default of these, turnip-greens, and young
clover, or even green corn, and ivy berries. Various at¬
tempts to domesticate this species have proved unsuc¬
cessful.
Green turtle.—Brass green above, purple-violet be- Viridis.
neath. Near eight inches long. Inhabits Amboina. 711
Turtle dove.—Tail feathers tipt with white ; back Turtur.
gray ; breast flesh-coloured ; a spot of black feathers,
tipt with white, on each side of the neck; bill brown;
irides yellow ; crown olive-ash ; front and chin nearly
white; scapulars and coverts reddish-brown, spotted with
black; throat and breast claret-coloured; belly and vent
white ; two middle tail feathers dusky-brown, the end
and exterior side of the outermost feathers white. Sub¬
ject to several varieties. About 12 inches long. Inha¬
bits Europe, China, and India, \isits the southern
parts of England in the spring, and leaves them 111 the
lie gin sing of September. Is very shy and retired,
breeding in thick woods, and nestling on high trees.
Is very destructive to fields of pease.
71a
B. Tail long and wedged.
Passenger pigeon.—Orbitsnaked and sanguine; breast Miqrato-
rufous. From 15 to 16 inches long. Inhabits North ria.
America, migrating southward in December in quest of
food. The multitudes which pass in hard winters are
truly astonishing, as they fly by millions in a flock, and
literally intercept the light of the sun. As soon as one
flock has passed, another succeeds; and these movements
sometimes continue for three days without intermission.
Their favourite food is acorns; but they not only eat the
fruit of various-kinds of trees, hut also corn and rice,
of which they are very unsparing in the course of their
passage. 7*7
Black-winged pigeon.—Body livid ; wings black. Melano-
Inhabits Chili. pterq.
Marginatcd turtle.—Breast red; tail feathers tipt
with -black, and edged with white ; bill horny ; iridesfo
rufous ; front and chin reddish brown ; lores white ;
hind head bluish-ash colour ; a black spot under the
ears ; body above brown; shoulders spotted with black;
rump cinereous ; throat and breast rosy; two middle
tail feathers blackish; the rest ash colour. Ten inches
long. Native of America. ^
Bantam pigeon.—Orbits naked and flesh-coloured ; Bantameiu-
neck, breast, and flanks, waved with black and white, sis. ,
Size of the wry-neck. Inhabits Java.
Plate
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% 1.
Gen. 76. Alauda, Lark.
7i()
Alacda.
717
Bill cylindrical, subulated, straight; the mandiblesCharactefs,-
equal, and a little gaping at the base ; tongue bifid j
hind claw straight, and longer than the toe.
3 Y 2 Field.