Male, 121/4, 171/2.
Accidental on the southernmost Florida Keys in summer only.
Columba cyanocephala, Linn. Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 282.
Blue-headed Pigeon, Columba cyanocephala, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 411; v. v. p. 557.
GENUS III. ECTOPISTES, Swains. LONG-TAILED-DOVE.
Bill straight, of ordinary length, rather slender, broader than high at the base, with a tumid fleshy covering, compressed toward the end. Head small, oblong; neck of moderate length; body rather slender. Feet short; tarsus as short as the hind toe and claw, anteriorly scutellate; outer toe slightly shorter than inner; claws rather short, stout, arched, obtuse. Plumage compact above; blended, but firm beneath. Wings long; first and second quills longest, and about equal. Tail long, cuneate, pointed. Digestive organs as in the preceding genus.
288. 1. Ectopistes migratoria, Linn. Wandering Long-tailed-Dove.—Passenger Pigeon.
Plate LXII. Male and Female.
Twelve tail-feathers. Male with the upper part and sides of the head light blue; throat, fore neck, and breast, light brownish-red, sides and lower wing-coverts light blue, abdomen and lower tail-coverts white; upper parts greyish-blue; lower part of neck behind and along the sides changing to gold, emerald-green, and rich crimson; some of the wing-coverts with a black spot; quills and larger coverts blackish-brown; primaries edged with blue at the base, with reddish-white toward the end; middle tail-feathers bluish-black, the rest pale blue at the base, with a patch of red and a band of black on the inner web, white in the rest of their extent. Female with the tints much duller, the upper parts inclining to yellowish-brown, the dark spots on the wings more numerous, the lower parts pale greyish, anteriorly tinged with yellowish-brown. In a female examined, the anterior part of the tarsus has two rows of scales, while in a male that part is broadly scutellate.
Male, 161/4, 25. Female, 15, 23.