Wanders continually in search of food throughout all parts of North America. Wonderfully abundant at times in particular districts.
Columba migratoria, Linn. Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 285.
Passenger Pigeon, Columba migratoria, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 102.
Columba migratoria, Bonap. Syn. p. 120.
Columba (Ectopistes) migratoria, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 363.
Passenger Pigeon, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 629.
Passenger Pigeon, Columba migratoria, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 319; v. v. p. 561.
289. 2. Ectopistes Carolinensis, Linn. Carolina Long-tailed-Dove.
Plate XVII. Male and Female.
Fourteen tail-feathers. Male with the crown of the head and hind part of the neck light blue; fore neck and breast light purplish-red, sides and lower wing-coverts light blue, abdomen and lower tail-coverts pale yellow; upper parts light yellowish-brown; lower part of neck behind and along the sides changing to gold and purplish-red; some of the wing-coverts with a black spot; quills and larger coverts greyish-brown, inclining to greyish-blue at the base, and very narrowly edged with whitish; middle tail-feathers like the back, the rest blue at the base, bluish-white toward the end, with a black band intervening between the two colours. Female smaller, with the tints duller, the upper part of the head scarcely tinged with blue.
Male, 12, 17. Female, 11, 151/2.
Breeds from Texas to Massachusetts, and throughout the interior to the eastern bases of the Rocky Mountains, and again on the Columbia River. Common. Resident in all the Southern Districts.
Columba carolinensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 286.
Carolina Pigeon or Turtle-Dove, Columba carolinensis, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. v. p. 91.
Columba carolinensis, Bonap. Syn. p. 119.
Carolina Pigeon or Turtle-Dove, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 626.
Carolina Turtle-Dove, Columba carolinensis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 91; v. v. p. 555.