Pigeons

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THE

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VOL. IX.

ORNITHOLOGY.
PIGEONS.

BY PRTDEAUX JOHN SELBY, ESQ.,
F. R.S.E., F. L.S., M.W.S., ETC., ETC.

EDINBUKGH:

W. H. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES* SQUARE.

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LIBRARY
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I'UINTED BY W. H. L1ZAIIS, EDINBURGH.

CONTENTS

MEMOIR OF PLINY, 17

Natural History of Gallinaceous Birds, . . 83

Columbidse or Pigeons.

Genus VINAGO, 92

Aromatic Vinago.

Vinago aromatica. Plate 1 95

Sharp-Tailed Vinago.

Vinago oxyura. Plate II 98

Genus PTILINOPUS, 100

Purple-Crowned Turteline.

Ptilinopus purpuratus. Plate III. . . 103
Blue-capped Turteline.

Ptilinopus monachus. Plate IV. . . . 107
Blue and Green Turteline.

Ptilinopus cyano-virens. Plate V. . . 109

Genus CARPOPHAGA. 112

Magnificent Fruit-Pigeon.

Carpophaga magnified. Plate VI. . . 115
Oceanic Fruit-Pigeon.

Carpophaga oceanica. Plate VII. » 117

CONTENTS.

Pheasant- Tailed Pigeon.

Columba Phasianella. Plate VIII. . . 120

Genus COLUMBA, . 124

Chestnut-Shouldered Pigeon.

Columba spadicea. Plate IX. . . . A27
Double-Crested Pigeon.

Gblumba dilopha. Plate X. ... 129

Ring Pigeon, or Cushat.

Columba palumbus. Vignette Title-page. . 133
Wood Pigeon.

Columba CEnas. Plate XI 142

Bisset or Wild Rock-Pigeon.

Columba lima. Plate XII 1 46

Broad or Fan- tailed Shaker.

Columba var. tremula latecauda. Plate XIII. 157
Jacobine Pigeon.

Cvlumba cucullata Jacobina. Plate XIV. . 159
Powter or Cropper Pigeon.

Columba var. Gutturosa subrubicunda.

Plate XV 161

Turkish or Mawmet Pigeon.

Columba Turcica. Plate XVI. . . . 164

Genus TURTUR, 169

Collared Turtle.

Turtus risorius. Plate XVII. . . . 170
Crested Turtle-

Turtur $ Lophotes. Plate XVIII. . . 174

Genus ECTOPISTES. 176

Passenger Turtle.

Ectopistes miffratoria. Plate XIX. . . 177
Cape Turtle.

Ectopistes?> Capensis. Plate XX. . . 1139

Genus PHAPS, 194

Bronze- Winged Ground Dove.

Phaps Chalcoptera. Plate XXI. . . . 195

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Genus CH^MEPELIA, » 198

Ferruginous Ground Dove.

Chamepelia Talpicoti- Plate XXII. . . 200

Genus PERISTERA, 203

Tambourine Ground Dove.

Peristera tympanistria. Plate XXIII. . 205
White-bellied Ground Dove.

Peristera Jamaicensis. Plate XXIV. . 207

Copper-coloured Ground Dove.

Peristera Martinica. Plate XXV. . . 200
White-fronted Ground Dove.

Peristera larvata. Plate XXVI. . . 211

Genus GEOPHILUS, 214

Blue-headed Ground Pigeon.

GeophilusV cyanocephalus. Plate XXVII. 216

Carunculated Ground Pigeon.

Geophilus carunculatus. Plate XXVIII. . 218
Nicobar Ground Pigeon.

Geophilus Nicobaricus. Plate XXIX. . 221
Genus LUPHYRUS, 224

Crowned Goura Pigeon.

Lophyrus coronatus. Plate XXX. . . 225

PORTRAIT OF PLINY, 2

Vignette Title-page. The Ring- Pigeon, or Cushat, 3

In all Thirty-two Plates in this Volume.

MEMOIR OF PLINY.

THE life of PLINY, like that of most men whose
days are spent in study and retirement, is meagre
of incident. Although he appears to have travelled
over a great part of Europe in the service of the
state ; to have visited Africa, and perhaps Egypt and
Palestine, yet no record of these adventures has been
preserved ; and had it not been for the occasional
notices that occur in his own writings, and especially
the information respecting his private habits and li-
terary labours, contained in the Epistles of his ne-
phew and namesake, Pliny the Younger, posterity
would have known nothing of the biography of this
great historian of Nature, except the era in which
he flourished, the works he produced, and the re-
markable circumstances attending his death. Of the
different accounts of this illustrious author which we
possess, the most ancient is that ascribed to Sueto-
nius,— the most ample is given by Count Rezzonico
. VOL. ix. B

18 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

in the Fifth Book of his Researches, — the most
scientific by Baron Cuvier, in the Biographic Uni-
verselle. Where so little has been communicated,
it is not to be expected that our narrative can be
either very copious or very explicit in its details ;
but scanty as the materials are, enough has been
preserved to enable us to delineate the character, as
well as to appreciate the merits, of this extraordinary
man, whose Natural History has been aptly denomi-
nated the Encyclopaedia of Ancient Knowledge.

CAIUS PLINIUS SECUNDUS, surnamed the Elder,
and also the Naturalist, was descended of a noble
family, and born in the reign of Tiberius, in the
20th, or according to others the 23d year of the
Christian era. The place of his nativity lias been
disputed, three cities in Italy having contended for
that honour. Father Hardouin, one of the ablest of
his editors and commentators, supposes, but without
any good authority for his opinion, that he was born
at Rome. Suetonius, St Jerome in his Chronicle
of Eusebius, the learned Spanheim, Paul Cigalini,
who has written two elaborate dissertations on the
subject, the Count Rezzonico, and some others,
make him a native of Comum, a city in the Mi-
lanese territory ; but from an expression which he
himself uses in the dedicatory epistle prefixed to his
History, wherein he calls the poet Catullus his coun-
tryman (conterraneus) ; and since Catullus was born
at Verona, this latter city has claimed the Naturalist

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 19

as her own. As the two places, however, are not
very distant from each other, and as it is certain that
the Plinian family were settled at Comum, where
they possessed large property, and where various in-
scriptions have heen found relative to several of its
members, the presumption is, notwithstanding the
appellation bestowed on Catullus, that his birthplace
was the usual residence of his ancestors. It was at
Comum, too, that his nephew, the Younger Pliny,
was born, so well known by his Letters.

Without farther pursuing this controversy, which
has elicited much erudite disquisition, we shall proceed
to state that at an early age the Naturalist was sent
to Rome, where he attended the lectures of Appion.
By this time the Emperor Tiberius had withdrawn
to Caprese, for the more secure enjoyment of his
luxuries and unlawful pleasures ; and it does not ap-
pear that Pliny ever saw him. But it has been sup-
posed that he assisted occasionally at the Court of
Caligula ; and we have his own authority that he had
seen the Empress Lollia Paulina, of whose extrava-
gance in jewellery, he gives so amusing an account,
that we shall present it in the quaint style of Dr
Philemon Holland, the only translation (to the shame
of British literature be it spoken) which our language
possesses. The passage, moreover, will serve to give
us some idea of the female fashions of Rome at that
period, and the costly passion of the ladies for foreign
ornaments. " Our dames take a great pride in
brauerie, to haue pearles not only hung dangling at

20 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

their fingers, but also two or three of them together
pendant at their eares. And names they haue, for-
sooth, newly deuised for them, when they serue their
turne, in this their wanton excesse and superfluitie of
roiot ; for when they knocke one against another, as
they hang at their eares or fingers, they call them
Crotalia, i. e. cymbals, as if they tooke delight to
heave the sound of their pearles ratling together.
Now-a-dayes, also, it is gvowne to this passe, that
meane women and poore men's wiues, affect to vveare
them because they would be thought rich ; and a
bye-word it is amongst them, that a faire pearle at a
woman's eare, is as good in the streete where she
goeth as an huisher to make way, for that euerie
one will giue such the place. Nay, our gentlewo-
men are scene now to weare them vpon their feet ;
and not at their shoo-latchets only, but also at their
start-tops and fine buskins, which they garnish all
ouer with fine pearles ; for it will not suffice nor serue
their turne to carie pearles about them, but they must
tread upon pearles, goe among pearles, and walk as
it were on a pauement of pearles. I myselfe have
seen Lollia Paulina, (late wife, and after widdow, to
Caius Caligula, the Emperor,) when she was dressed
and set out, not in stately wise, nor of purpose for
some great solemnitie, but only when she was to goe
to a wedding supper, or rather to a feast where the
assurance was made, and great persons they were
not that made the said feast. I haue seen her, I say,
beset and bedeckt all ouer with hemeraulds and

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 21

pearles, disposed in rewes, ranks, and courses, one
by another, round about the attire of her head, her
cawle, her borders, her peruk of hair, her bond grace
and chaplet, at her eares pendant, about her neck in
a carcanet, vpon her wrest in bracelets, and on her
fingers in rings, that she glittered and shon again like
the sun as she went. The value of these ornaments
she esteemed and rated at 400,000 hundred (40 mil-
lions) sesterces ;* and offered fairly to proue it off-
hand by her bookes of accounts and reckonings.
Yet were not these jewels the gifts and presents of
the prodigal! prince her husband, but the goods and
ornaments from her own house, fallen to her by way
of inheritance from her grandfather, which he had
gotten together, euen by the robbing and spoiling of
whole prouinces. It was not sufficient, belike, (con-
tinues our author, in reprobating the luxuries of his
fellow-citizens,) to bring the seas into the kitchen
to let them down the throat into the bellie, vnlesse
men and women both caried them about in their
hands and eares, vpon their head, and all oner their
body. And yet what societie and affinttie is there
betwixt the sea and apparell ; what proportion be-
twixt the waues and surging billowes thereof, and
wooll ? for surely this element naturally receiues us
not in her bosom, vnlesse we be stark-naked ; and
set the case, there were so great good fellowship
with it and our bellies, how comes our backe and

* Equivalent, perhaps, to L, 400,000 Sterling.

22 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

sides to be acquainted with it ? But wee were not
contented to feed with the peril of so many men,
vnlesse we be clad and araied also therewith. O the
folly of vs men ! See, how, there is nothing that
goeth to the pampering and trimming of this our car-
casse, of so great price arid account, that is not bought
with the vtmost hasard, and costeth not the venture
of a man's life '"

The attention of Pliny, even at this early age. was
attracted by the interesting productions of nature,
and particularly by the remarkable animals which
the emperors exhibited in the public spectacles. He
relates in detail, in his ninth book, and as an eye-
witness, the capture of a huge whale, or other large
monster of the deep, which was taken alive in the
harbour of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, and
slain by the darts and javelins of certain Praetorian
cohorts, for the amusement of the people of Rome.
This event having taken place while Claudius was
constructing the port in question, that is, in the second
year of his reign, the youthful philosopher could not
have been at that time more than about nineteen
years of age. We learn from himself that, about his
twenty-second year, he resided for a time on the coast
of Africa. It was at this period that some modern
writers have alleged, on no very substantial evidence
however, that he served in the Roman fleet, and
visited Britain, Greece, and some other eastern coun-
tries. But these suppositions do not accord with

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 23

the testimony of his nephew, who asserts that, while
yet quite young, he was employed in the Roman ar-
mies in Germany. He there served under Lucius
Pomponius, whose friendship he gained, and who
entrusted him with the command of a part of the
cavalry. In these campaigns he must have availed
himself very fully of the opportunity to explore the
country ; since he informs us that he had seen the
sources of the Danuhe, and had also visited the
Chauci, a tribe that dwelt between the Elbe and the
Weser, on the borders of the Northern Ocean. The
operations of the war seem not entirely to have en-
grossed his time, as he found leisure to write a trea-
tise (his first work) De Jaculatione Equestri, on the
art of throwing the javeline on horseback. He also
composed a life of his General, Pomponius, which
was dictated by his strong attachment to that com-
mander, and by the gratitude which he felt for his
numerous favours. He was induced about the same
period to engage in a literary enterprise of great la-
bour, viz. that of composing the history of all the
wars carried on in Germany by the Romans. This
undertaking, as recorded by his nephew, was sug
gested to him by a remarkable dream, in which the
shade of Drusus appeared to him, and urged him to
write his memoirs, — a task which he eventually exe-
cuted in the compass of twenty books.

About the age of thirty Pliny returned to Rome,
where he pleaded several causes according to the
custom of his countrymen, who were fond of allying

24 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

the profession of arms with the practice of the bar.
It does not appear that he held any official situation,
and during the greater part of the reign of Nero, he
seems to have remained without any employment
from the state. He spent a portion of his time at
Comum, where he superintended the education of
his nephew ; and it was probably for his use that he
composed a work on Eloquence, in six volumes, en-
titled " Studiosus" (the Student), in which he con-
ducts the orator from his cradle onward, until be had
reached the perfection of his art. A quotation from
it, made by Quintilian, leads us to infer that in this
treatise the author even pointed out the manner in
which the orator should regulate his dress, his person,
his gesture, and his deportment on the tribunal. An-
other grammatical work (Dubii Sermonis), on the
precise signification and choice of words, appeared
towards the close of Nero's reign, when the terror
inspired by that monster's cruelties had driven vir-
tue and excellence into banishment, and imposed a
check on all liberal and elevated pursuits. It has
been supposed, however, from chronological compu-
tation, that he was named by that emperor procura-
tor in Spain. His nephew says expressly that he
filled that office, and he himself mentions certain
observations which he made in that country. There,
it is to be presumed (for we find no other period of
his life at which the event could have occurred),
he continued to reside during the civil wars of Galba,
Otho, and Vitellius ; perhaps, also, during the first

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 25

years of the reign of Vespasian, as we find that his
absence abroad obliged him to depute the guardian-
ship of his nephew to the care of Virgin ius Rufus.

On his return to Italy he seems to have made some
stay in the south of Gaul ; for he informs us that he
saw there a stone said to have fallen from the sky ;
and he describes with great exactness the province
of Narbonne, particularly the fountain of Vaucluse.
At Rome, Vespasian, with whom he had been on
intimate terms during the German wars, gave him
a very favourable reception, and was in the habit of
calling him to his apartment every morning before
sunrise, — a privilege which, according to Suetonius
and Xiphilinus, was reserved only for his particular
friends. It is not certain, though probable, that Ves-
pasian raised him to the rank of senator ; nor is
there any proof that he served with Titus in the
war against the Jews. What he remarks concern-
ing Judea is not sufficiently exact to induce us to
believe that he speaks from personal observation ;
and besides, it is hardly possible to assign to any
other period of his life than this, the composition of
his -work on the " History of his own Times," in
thirty-one books, and forming a continuation of that
by Aufidius Bassus, an author who flourished under
Augustus, and wrote an account of the wars in Ger-
many. Whether or not he was the military com-
panion of that emperor in the east, he was honoured
with his intimate friendship, and to him he dedicated

26 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

the last and most important of his writings, his " Na-
tural History."

What we know of the private character, the vast
erudition, and incredible industry of PJiny, is chiefly
derived from his nephew, whose account we shall
transcribe in his own words, from the Epistle ad-
dressed to his friend Macer. After mentioning
the different works which we have already enume-
rated, he thus proceeds : — " You will wonder how
a man so engaged as he was, could find time to com-
pose such a number of books, and some of them,
too, upon abstruse subjects. But your surprise will
rise still higher, when you hear that for some time
he engaged in the profession of an advocate ; that he
died at the age of fifty-six ; that from the time of his
quitting the bar to his death, he was employed part-
ly in the execution of the highest posts, and partly
in a personal attendance of those emperors who ho-
noured him with their friendship. But he had a
quick apprehension, joined to unwearied application.
In summer he always began his studies as soon as
it was night ; in winter generally at one in the mor-
ning ; but never later than two, and often at mid-
night. No man ever spent less time in bed ; inso-
much that he would sometimes, without retiring
from his books, take a short sleep and then pursue
his studies. Before daybreak he used to wait upon
Vespasian, who likewise chose that season to trans-
act business. When he had finished the affairs

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 27

which that emperor committed to his charge, he re-
turned home again to his books. After a short and
light repast at noon (agreeably to the good old cus-
tom of our ancestors), he would frequently in the
summer, if he was disengaged from business, repose
himself in the sun, during which time some author
was read to him, from whom he made extracts and
observations ; as indeed this was his constant method,
whatever book he read, for it was a maxim of his,

* that no book was so bad, but something might be
learned from it/ When this was over, he generally
went into the cold bath, and as soon as he came out
of it, just took a slight refreshment, and then repos-
ed himself for a little while. Then, as if it had
been a new day, he immediately resumed his studies
till supper- time, when a book was again read to him,
on which he would make some hasty remarks. I re-
member once his reader having pronounced a word
wrong, somebody at the table made him repeat it
again, upon which my uncle asked his friend if he
understood it ; who acknowledged that he did,

* Why then (said he), would you make him go back
again? We have lost by this interruption above
ten lines,' — so covetous was this great man of time !
In summer he always rose from supper with day-
light, and in winter as soon as it was dark ; and this
rule he observed as strictly as if it had been a law
of state. Such was his manner of life amidst the
noise and hurry of the town, but in the country his
whole time was devoted to study without intermis-

28 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

sion, excepting only when he hathed. In this ex-
ception I include no more than the time he was ac-
tually in the bath ; for while he was rubbed and
wiped, he was employed either in hearing some book
read to him, or in dictating himself. In his jour-
neys he lost no time from his studies ; but his mind
at those seasons being disengaged from all other bu-
siness, applied itself wholly to that single pursuit. A
secretary* (or short-hand writer) constantly attend-
ed him in his chariot, who in winter wore a parti-
cular sort of warm gloves, that the sharpness of the
weather might not occasion any interruption to my
uncle's studies ; and for the same reason, in Rome
he was always carried in a chair. I remember he
once reproved me for walking. ' You might (said
he) employ these hours to more advantage ;' for he
thought every minute lost that was not given to
study. By this extraordinary application he found
time to compose the several treatises already men-
tioned, besides 160 volumes which he left me by
his will, consisting of a kind of commonplace, writ-
ten on both sides, in a very small character, so that
one might fairly reckon the number considerably

* The words in the original, Notarius cum libra et pugil-
laribus, denote a writer of short-hand; an art which the
Romans carried to perfection, as appears from Martial : —

Currant verba licet, manus est velocius illis ;

Nondum lingua suum, dextra peregit opus.

Swift though the words, the pen still swifter sped ;
The hand has finished ere the tongue has said.

Epigram xiv. 208.

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 29

more. I have heard him say, when he was comp-
troller of the revenue in Spain, Lartiiis Licinius of-
fered him 400,000 sesterces (about L. 3:200} for these
manuscripts, and yet they were not then quite so
numerous. When you reflect on the books he has
read, and the volumes he has written, are you not
inclined to suspect that he never was engaged in
the affairs of the public, or the service of his prince 3
On the other hand, when you are informed how in-
defatigable he was in his studies, are you not dis-
posed to wonder that he read and wrote no more ?
For, on the one side, what obstacles would not the
business of a court throw in his way ; and on the
other, what is it that such intense application might
not perform ?" *

Such is a description of the habits and acquire-
ments of this extraordinary person, recorded by one
who, from daily and familiar intercourse, had the
best opportunities of minute observation. It is to
the same pen that we owe the account of his death,
the particulars of which are better known than th«
circumstances of his private life. At the time of
that melancholy event, Pliny the Naturalist was at
Misenum, near Naples, in command of the Roman
fleet, which was appointed to guard all the part of
the Mediterranean comprehended between Italy,
Gaul, Spain, and Africa. The letter containing
these interesting details is addressed to the well
known historian Tacitus, who, it appears, had ex-
* Plinii Eoist. lib. iii. 5.

30 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

pressed to the nephew a wish to he acquainted with
the particulars of that catastrophe, that he might
mention them in his writings. The narrative is not
only intimately connected with the subject of this
Memoir, but so curious in itself, as containing the
relation, by an eye-witness, of the first great eruption
of Mount Vesuvius on record, by which the cities of
Herculaneum and Pompeii were destroyed, that we
shall lay the entire epistle before the reader.

" PLINY to TACITUS. — Your request that I would
send you an account of my uncle's death, in order
to transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity,
deserves my acknowledgments ; for if the circum-
stances which occasioned this accident shall be ce-
lebrated by your pen, the manner of his exit will be
rendered for ever illustrious. Notwithstanding he
perished by a misfortune, which as it involved at the
same time a most beautiful country in ruins, and
destroyed so many populous cities, seems to promise
him an everlasting remembrance ; notwithstanding
he has himself composed many works which will de-
scend to latest times ; yet I am persuaded the men-
tioning of him in your immortal writings, will great-
ly contribute to eternalize his name. Happy I es-
teem those to be whom the gods have distinguished
with the abilities either of performing such actions
as are worthy of being related, or of relating them
in a manner worthy of being read. But doubly
happy are they who are blest with both these un-
common endowments ; in the number of whom my

MEMOIR OF PLINY.

uncle, as his own writings and your history will
prove, may justly be ranked. - It is with extreme
willingness, therefore, that I execute your commands ;
and should indeed have claimed the task, if you had
not enjoined it. He was at that time with the fleet
under his command at Misenum. On the 24-th of
August, about one in the afternoon, my mother de-
sired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a
very unusual size and shape. He had just return-
ed from enjoying the benefit of the sun ; and after
bathing in cold water, and taking a slight repast,
was retired to his study. He immediately rose and
went out upon an eminence, from whence he might
more distinctly view this singular phenomenon. It
was not, at that distance, discernible from what
mountain this cloud issued, but it was found after-
wards to proceed from Mount Vesuvius. I cannot
give you a more exact description of its figure than
by comparing it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up a
great height in the form of a tall trunk, which spread
at the top into a sort of branches ; the cause of which
was, I imagine, either that the force of the sudden
gust which impelled the cloud upwards had de-
creased in strength as it advanced ; or that the cloud
being pressed back by its own weight, expanded it-
self in the manner I have mentioned. It appeared
sometimes bright, and sometimes dark and spotted,
just as it was either more or less impregnated with
cinders. This uncommon appearance excited my
uncle's philosophical curiosity, to take a nearer view

32 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

of it. He accordingly ordered a light vessel to be
prepared, and offered me the liberty, if I thought
proper, to accompany him. I rather chose to conti-
nue the employment in which I was engaged ; for it
happened that he had given me a certain writing to
copy. As he was going out of the house, he re-
ceived a note from the commissary of marines at
Retina, who were in the utmost alarm at the immi-
nent danger which threatened them (for that villa
was in the immediate neighbourhood, and there was
no means of escape except by sea), imploring him to
rescue them from their perilous situation. He ac-
cordingly changed his original intention, and instead
of gratifying his philosophical spirit, he resigned it
to the more magnanimous principle of aiding the dis-
tressed. With this view he ordered the gallies im-
mediately to put to sea, and went himself on board,
intending to assist not only Retina, but other villas
which stood extremely thick on that beautiful and
salubrious coast. Hastening, therefore, to the place
from whence others had fled with the utmost terror,
he steered his course direct to the point in danger;
and with so much calmness and presence of mind,
as to be able to make and dictate his observations
upon the appearance and progress of that dreadful
scene. He was now so near the mountain, that the
cinders grew thicker and hotter as he approach-
ed, together with calcined stones like pumice,
and broken pieces of black burning rock. They
were likewise in danger not only of being a-ground

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 33

by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the
vast fragments which rolled down the sides of the
mountain, and obstructed all the shore. Here he
stopped to consider whether he should return back,
to which the pilot advising him, ' Fortune (said he)
befriends the brave ; steer to Pomponianus.' That
officer was then at Stabiae, a place separated by a
gulf which the sea, after several inconsiderable wind-
ings, forms upon that coast, and had already sent
his baggage on board; for though he was not at that
time in actual danger, yet being within the view of
it, and indeed extremely near, he had determined, if
it should in the least increase, to put to sea as soon
as the wind should change. It was favourable, how-
ever, for carrying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom
he found in the greatest consternation ; and embra-
cing him with tenderness, he encouraged and exhort-
ed him to keep up his spirits. The more to dissi-
pate his fears, he ordered his servants, with an air
of unconcern, to carry him to the baths ; and after
having bathed, he sat down to supper with great, or
at least (what is equally heroic) with all the appear-
ance of cheerfulness ; whilst in the mean time the
fire from Vesuvius flamed forth from several parts of
the mountain with great violence, which the dark-
ness of the night contributed to render still more vi-
sible and awful. But my uncle, in order to calm
the apprehensions of his friend, assured him it was
only the conflagration of the villages which the coun-
try people had abandoned. After this he retired to

VOL. IX. C

34 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

rest, and most certain it is he was so little discom-
posed as to fall into a deep sleep ; for being corpu-
lent, and breathing hard, the attendants in the anti-
chamber actually heard him snore. The court which
led to his apartment being now almost filled with
stones and ashes, it would have been impossible for
him, if he had continued there any longer, to have
made his way out ; it was thought proper, therefore,
to awaken him. He got up, and joined Pompom-
anus and the rest of the company, who had not been
sufficiently at ease to think of going to bed. They
consulted together whether it would be most pru-
dent to trust to the houses, which now shook and
rocked from side to side with frequent and violent
concussions, or flee to the open fields, where the cal-
cined stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet
fell in large showers, and threatened them with in-
stant destruction. In this uncertainty they resolved
for the fields, as the less dangerous situation, — a re-
solution which, while the rest of the company were
driven into it by their fears, my uncle embraced up-
on cool and deliberate consideration.

They all then went out, having pillows tied on their
heads with napkins ; and this was their sole defence
against the storm of burning fragments that fell
around them. It was now day-light every where
else ; but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in
the blackest night, which, however, was in some de-
gree dissipated by torches and other lights of vari-
ous kinds. They thought it expedient to go down

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 35

further upon the shore, in order to observe if they
might safely put out to sea ; but they found the
waves still running extremely high and boisterous.
Then my uncle having drank a draught or two of
cold water, laid himself down upon a sail-cloth
which was spread for him ; but immediately the
flames, preceded by a strong smell of sulphur, dis-
persed the rest of the company, and obliged him to
rise. Scarcely had he raised himself up, with the
assistance of two of his servants, when he instantly
fell down dead ; suffocated, as I conjecture, by some
gross and noxious vapour, having always had weak
lungs, and being frequently subject to a difficulty in
breathing. As soon as it was light again, \vhich
was not till the third day after this melancholy acci-
dent, his body was found entire and without any
marks of violence, exactly in the posture that he fell,
and looking more like a man asleep than dead."

" During all this time (continues the same writer
in another epistle, adverting now to his own situa-
tion), my mother and I were at Misenum. We went
out into a small court belonging to the house, which
separated the sea from the buildings. As I was at
that time but eighteen years of age, I know not
whether I should call my behaviour in this danger-
ous conjuncture courage or rashness ; but I took up
Livy and amused myself in turning over that author,
and even making extracts from him, as if all about
me had been in full security. While we were in this
situation, a friend of my uncle's, who was just come

36 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

from Spain to pay him a visit, joined us ; and ob-
serving me sitting by my mother with a book in my
hand, greatly censured her patience, and at the
same time reproved me for my careless security ; ne-
vertheless I still went on with my author. Though
it was now morning, the light was exceedingly
faint and languid ; the buildings all around us tot-
tered ; and though we stood upon open ground, yet
as the place was narrow and confined, there was no
remaining without great and certain danger ; we
therefore resolved to quit the town. The people
followed us in the utmost consternation ; and as to a
mind distracted with terror every suggestion seems
more prudent than its own, they pressed in vast
crowds about us in our way out. Being got at a
convenient distance from the buildings, we stood
still in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful
scene. The chariots which we had ordered to be
drawn out were so agitated backwards and forwards,
though upon the most level ground, that we could
not keep them steady, even by supporting them
with large stones. The sea appeared to roll back
upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the
convulsive motion of the earth ; it is certain, at least,
the shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea
animals were left upon it. On the other side, a
black and dismal cloud bursting with an igneous ser-
pentine vapour, darted out a long train of fire, re-
sembling flashes of lightning, but much larger. Soon
afterwards it seemed to descend and cover the whole

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 37

ocean ; as indeed it entirely hid the island of Caprsea,
and the promontory of Misenum. My mother con-
jured me to make my escape at any rate, which as I
was young I might easily effect. As for herself, she
said her age and corpulence rendered all attempts of
that sort impossible; however, she would willingly
meet death if she could have the satisfaction of see-
ing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I
absolutely refused to leave her, and taking her by the
hand I led her on ; while she complied with great
reluctance, and not without many reproaches to her-
self for retarding my flight. The ashes now began
to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I turn-
ed my head and observed behind us a thick smoke,
which came rolling after us like a torrent.

We had scarcely stepped out of the path when
darkness overspread us, not like that of a cloudy night,
or when there is no moon, but as of a room when
all the lights are extinct. Nothing was then to
be heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of
infants, and the cries of men ; some calling for their
children, others for their parents, others for their
husbands, and only distinguishing each other by their
voices ; one lamenting his own fate, another that of
his family ; some wishing to die from the very fear
of dying ; some lifting their hands to the gods ; but
the greater part imagining that the last and eternal
night was come, which was to destroy both the gods
and the world together. At length a glimmering
light appeared, which we supposed to be rather the

38 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

forerunner of an approaching burst of flames (which
it really was) than the return of day ; however, the
fire fell at a distance from us. Here again we were
immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy shower of
ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every
now and then to shake off, otherwise we should
have been crushed and buried in the heap. At last
this frightful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like
a cloud of smoke ; the real day returned, and even
the sun appeared, though very faintly, and as when
an eclipse is coming on. Every object that present-
ed itself to our eyes (which were extremely weaken-
ed) seemed changed, being covered over with white
ashes, as with a deep snow. We returned to Mi-
senum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we
could, and passed an anxious night betwixt hope
and fear, though indeed with a much larger share of
the latter, for the earth still continued to shake ;
while several enthusiastic persons ran wildly among
the people, throwing out temporary predictions, and
making a kind of frantic sport of their own and their
friends' wretched situation. But notwithstanding the
danger we had passed, and that which still threaten-
ed us, we had no thoughts of leaving Misenum till
we should receive some accounts of my uncle." *

A short time brought them tidings of the melan-
choly event, as has been already narrated. The ne-
phew inherited the estates and effects of his deceased
relative, and appearing soon after at the bar in Rome,

* Plinii Epist. lib. vi. 17, 20.

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 39

he distinguished himself so much hy his eloquence,
that he and his friend Tacitus were reckoned the
two greatest orators of their age.

The death of the elder Pliny occurred on the 24th
of August, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and
seventy-ninth of the Christian era ; and the date is
remarkable as synchronizing the fatal eruption of the
same mountain which happened during the present year
(1834), with that which took place nearly eighteen
centuries ago. * Of his moral character we have

* Although that mentioned here is the first great erup-
tion of Vesuvius on record, there is evidence of others hav-
ing occurred at some more remote period. After this the
mountain continued to burn for nearly a thousand years,
the fire then appeared to become extinct ; but since the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century, there have been eruptions
at intervals, the most remarkable of which happened in
1506 and 1783, which destroyed many towns and about
40,000 people ; and in the month of August of the present
year 1834, on the same day of the month on which Pliny
perished, which is represented as one of the most terrific ever
known. The following account of it, given in a private letter
from Naples, dated August 30th, deserves a place as a se-
quel to the interesting description of the younger Pliny.

46 What has been dreaded has at length come to pass in
the most melancholy manner. For several weeks past the
wells at Resina Ottajano, and other places at the foot of
Vesuvius, were dry, which is an infallible sign of an ap-
proaching eruption. On Sunday the 24th, a small opening
was perceived in the middle of the mountain, out of which
a very insignificant stream of lava flowed, in the direction
of Bosco Tre Case, but it ran with considerable rapidity.
At the same time a considerable noise and rustling were
heard in the interior of the volcano, and towards the direc-
tion of the hermits two or three other streams of lava broke
forth, without, however, passing beyond the waste space

40 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

but scanty materials for judging. He appears to
have been as amiable and affectionate as he was
learned and studious. Everywhere he expresses his

about the crater, already rendered sterile by so many pre-
vious streams of lava. On Monday, the 25th, the eruption
appeared to have abated, but on the following day the scene
changed in a sudden and terrible manner. Since the year
1828, the inner part of the volcano had formed anew crater,
which had gradually filled the vast chasm almost half a
league in length, which was the consequence of the erup-
tion of 1822, and at length rose above the old crater to the
height of 200 feet, and was very perceptible from Naples.
The little Vesuvius, as people called it, on the morning of
the 2Gth, fell in with a most terrific noise, and in its place
a thick black cloud, which, threatening danger, mounted
aloft higher and higher, darkened the sun, and, with a pe-
netrating fine shower of ashes, covered not only the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the volcano, but even Naples and
Pausilippo. The glowing lava, too, for which the vessel
containing it had now become too small, sought and found
an opening about the middle of the mountain, about three
miles from the top. With indescribable fury the lava
burst out of this new outlet, and in less than three hours
had travelled more than six miles, and in its career had
destroyed gardens, forests, and houses. On the 27th this
avalanche of fire had attained the height of from 15 to 16
feet ; its breadth was about half a mile. The country-house
of Prince Ottajana, in which, on the same morning, an Eng-
lish lady was drawing, was in the evening a formless ruin.
The small village of San Giovanni, consisting of about
eighty-six houses, exists no more. In Capo Secco Torcino,
about 100 houses were destroyed by the fire. On the 28th
the eruption had assumed a still more terrific character.
The inhabitants of Scafati and Sarno expected every mo-
ment that the terrible visitant would arrive at their gates.
Six streams of lava threatened at one time Torre dell An-
nunciato, Bosco Tre Case, and Bosco Reale. The terror
was general, when on the 29th, the violence of the eruption

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 41

love for justice — his respect for virtue — his detesta-
tion of cruelty and baseness, of which he had seen
such terrible examples, — and his contempt for that

abated, and to-day the alarmed inhabitants of Ottajano
and Mauro begin to breathe a little freely. The injury
done to houses and land, about 300 moggie, is reckoned at
L. 300,000. It is impossible to give you a complete idea of
this sublime and terrific natural spectacle. As it was not
attended by any danger to approach the lava during the
last three evenings, not only the number of gentlefolks who
went to see the threatened villages was great, including all
that was distinguished of natives and foreigners in Naples,
Sorrento, and Castellmare, but thousands of the peasants
and citizens, with their wives and children, from all the
neighbourhood, came and saw, and wondered at the pro-
gress of the destruction. What a contrast between the ter-
ror of the despairing inhabitants, who in a moment saw their
whole property — the only hope in future for their at least
painful life — irrecoverably lost ; and the wild and almost
mocking, singing, and laughing, of the jackass drivers, and
the rude merriment of some soldiers, who, not contented
with the injury done by the eruption, proceeded with Van-
dal rage to destroy what Vesuvius had spared.

" SEPT. 6 — The state of Vesuvius is not yet peaceful
enough. Every day huge pillars of smoke arise from the
middle of the crater, which generally disperse in light
showers of ashes, and often are accompanied by very loud
reports. The well known cicerone of Vesuvius, Salvatore,
is of opinion that another eruption may be expected ; and
persons are afraid that it will take place in the middle of
the mountain, and direct the lava towards Portici. The
lava, the destructive flow of which only stopped on the 1st,
pressed forward to about a mile from Scafati, a small town
on the river Sarno, and has almost cut off the communica-
tion between Nola and Castellmare, having stopped only a
few paces from the high road. Three hundred families
have lost their homes and their vineyards, which promised

42 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

unbridled luxury which had so deeply corrupted the
taste and manners of his countrymen. In his reli-
gious principles he was above the grovelling and
puerile superstitions of his age ; but he was almost
an atheist, or at least he acknowledged no other deity
than the world ; and few philosophers have explained
the system of Pantheism more in detail, and with
greater spirit and energy than he has done, in the
second book of his History. Notwithstanding his
scepticism and his disbelief in the immortality of the
soul, his morality, in so far as appears, was unim-
peachable. The duties of a subject, a citizen, and a
member of society, he seems to have discharged in
a manner that well deserves to be imitated in more
improved and enlightened times. But it is chiefly
as a Naturalist that we must contemplate his charac-
ter; and though he has many faults and deficiencies,
he has treasured up a vast store of curious infor-
mation; the greater part of which, but for him,

them a rich vintage, and all their property. Their loss is
irreparable."

Another account adds: — "The king and the ministers
hastened to the seat of the catastrophe, to console the un-
fortunate victims. The village of St Felix, where they first
took repose, had already been abandoned. The lava soon
poured down upon this place, and in the course of an hour
houses, churches, arid palaces, were all destroyed. Four
villages, some detached houses, country villas, vines, beau-
tiful groves, and gardens, which a few instants before pre-
sented a magnificent spectacle, now resembled a sea of fire.
Fifteen hundred houses, palaces, and other buildings, and
2500 acres of cultivated land, have been destroyed by the
fire. "

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 43

must have been totally and irretrievably lost to the
world.

Nearly 400 years before Pliny wrote, Aristotle
had collected and embodied into a systematic form,
whatever information in science (for we speak here
of that alone) the ancient world possessed ; but he
did more, he greatly extended the boundaries of na-
tural knowledge, by superadding to the labours of
his predecessors many facts and observations of his
own, from which he elicited general principles that
served as the first foundation of that splendid super-
structure, which, after a long interval, rose to such
beauty and symmetry in its several compartments
under the hands of Newton and Laplace, Linnaeus
and Jussieu, Buffon and Cuvier. The works of the
Greek philosopher were early imported into Italy ;
but the Roman government, both under the Repub-
lic and the Emperors, was too much occupied in ex-
tending and securing its conquests, to patronise or
encourage physical studies. That the mere love of
nature had attracted many to these delightful pur-
suits, in the time that elapsed between Aristotle and
Pliny, is well known from the excerpts which they
furnished to others ; but their works have perished
in the wreck of ages ; and the two great pillars of
science already named, which mark the respective
eras of Vespasian and Alexander the Great, stand
forth in the wide field of antiquity — like Baalbec
and Tadmor in the desert — in solitary grandeur; but,
like these venerable ruins, too, dismantled and mu-
tilated of their original proportions.

44 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

The Natural History of Pliny, the last and most
important of his writings, may justly he said to have
introduced the second distinct epoch of physical
knowledge, which remained nearly in the state where
he left it for about 1500 years, without patronage
or cultivation, until the night of barbarism passed
away, and the restoration of letters awoke the dormant
energies of the human intellect. This great work
is the only one of his numerous perforntances that
has come down to us ; the titles given to Titus in
the dedication, shew that it was concluded in the 78th
year of Christianity, that is, only one year before the
author's death. To gather the materials for it must evi-
dently have occupied the better part of his life ; since,
according to his own statement, it contains extracts
from more than two thousand volumes, written by au-
thors of every description, travellers, historians, geo-
graphers, philosophers, physicians, and others ; with
many of whom we only become acquainted in the pages
of Pliny. This immense magazine of information well
deserves to be denominated the Encyclopaedia of the
ancients ; it is certainly the most curious and extra-
ordinary work which the Roman literature ever pro-
duced, and may be considered as the depository of
all that was known in science and the arts from the
earliest ages of the human race. There is scarcely
a discovery or an invention, a department of nature,
or a region of the earth, with which antiquity was ac-
quainted, that it does not comprehend. It is not
only a valuable storehouse of intelligence but a

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 45

splendid monument of astonishing industry, in a man
whose time was so much occupied in the service of
his country. In order fully to appreciate its merits
and importance, we shall direct the reader's attention,
1st, To its style ; 2d, To its plan ; 3d, To its facts.
The best judges of Latinity have uniformly pass-
ed the highest eulogium on Pliny as a classical
writer ; perhaps the most worthy of that epithet of
any that flourished after the age of Augustus. It
has been justly remarked, that had his writings perish-
ed, it would have been impossible to restore the lan-
guage of Virgil and Tacitus ; and this remark must
be understood, not only with respect to words, but
also their various acceptations and shades of mean-
ing when combined into sentences. Every author
is, more or less, the artisan of his own style ; and
hence the variety that exists among writers of the
same country, and on the same subject. The very
circumstance of being obliged to amass that prodi-
gious variety of terms and forms of expression, which
the abundance of his materials rendered necessary,
has made Pliny's History one of the richest depots of
the Roman tongue. It is observable also, that where-
ever he can indulge in general ideas or philosophic
views, his language assumes a tone of energy and
vivacity, and his thoughts somewhat of unexpect-
ed boldness, which tends to relieve the dryness of
scientific enumerations. At the same time, it can-
not be denied that he is too fond of seeking for points
and antitheses ; that he is occasionally harsh ; and that

46 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

in many places his diction is marked by an obscurity
which arises less from the subject than from a desire
of appearing sententious and condensed.

As to his general plan, Pliny is wonderfully regu-
lar and methodical, considering the enormous number
and diversity of topics which his work embraces. It
was not merely a Natural History that he undertook
to compose, in the restricted sense in which we em-
ploy the phrase at the present day ; that is, a treatise
more or less detailed, respecting animals, plants, and
minerals ; his project was far more comprehensive,
including astronomy, geography, physics, agricul-
ture, commerce, medicine, and the arts, as well as
natural science properly so called. Moreover, he
continually mingles with his remarks on these sub-
jects a variety of observations relative to the moral
constitution of man, and the history of nations.

The work is divided into thirty-seven books, and
is dedicated, as already mentioned, to Vespasian ;
although some French writers have supposed, from
the change of style and other internal evidence,
that the dedication was not written by Pliny. The
first book gives merely a kind of summary or table
of contents, and the names of the authors who are
to supply him with facts and materials. The second
book treats of the universe ; the form, figure, and
motions of the heavens ; the seven planets, in the
midst of which moves the sun, the ruler of all things ;
the four elements, — fire, air, earth, and water ; the
nature of the fixed stars ; eclipses of the sun arid

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 47

moon ; thunder, comets, meteors, lightning, winds,
clouds, earthquakes, hail, frost, snow, mist, dew,
tides, and various other particulars concerning the
phenomena of the terraqueous globe. The world
and the heavens are represented to he infinite, with-
out beginning and without end ; the form of the lat-
ter is spherical, the motion circular, and they are im-
pressed with innumerable forms of animals and other
objects. To assign to the Deity any particular
shape, image, or existence distinct from the universe,
or to imagine that he should exercise a superintend-
ing providence over the human race, Pliny reckons
absurd, seeing God is himself all in all, and must ne-
cessarily be polluted by interfering in the affairs of
men who are prone to wickedness, and addicted to
the most grovelling superstitions. He admits, how-
ever, that it is beneficial to believe that the gods take
care of good men and punish malefactors. " In sum
(adds Dr Philemon Holland) there be in this booke
of histories, notable matters, and worthy obserua-
tions, foure hundred and eighteene in number ;"
amongst which he reckons " flames and learns seen
in the skie ; monstrous and prodigious showres of
raine, namely of milke, bloud, flesh, yron, wooll,
bricke, and tyle ; the rattling of harnesse and armour,
also the sound of trumpets heard from heauen."

The four next books treat of geography, comprising
a description of the then known world; its seas, rivers,
islands, mountains towns, nations, &c. from Spain

48 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

to India, and from Mauritania and Ethiopia in Af-
rica, to Scythia and the Cimbric Chersonese.

The seventh book is devoted to an account of the
various races and " wonderful! shapes of men in
diuerse countries," including monsters, prodigies,
ghosts, great characters, notable inventions, longe-
vity, strength, swiftness, wit, valour, and other mat-
ters relating to the human species. " In summe (says
the authority already quoted) there be in this booke,
strange accidents and matters memorable, 747."
Of these " matters memorable" Pliny has collected
a tolerable stock from Grecian and other travellers,
most of them bordering on the marvellous, and only
fitted to excite a smile at the credulity of those who
could affirm or relate them. " Certes reported it is,
(says he), that far within the country of Ethyopia,
eastward, there are a kinde of people without any
nose at all on their face, hauing their visage all plain
and flat. Others again, without any upper lip, and
some tonguelesse. Moreover, there is a kinde of
them that want a mouth, framed apart from their
nosthrills, and at one and the same hole, and no more,
taketh in breath, receiueth drinke by drawing it in
with an oaten straw ; yea, and after the same man-
ner feed themselves with the grains of oats."

He then proceeds to give examples of cannibals,
hermaphrodites, androgyni, and other wonderful
shapes in different regions of the world. Among the
Scythians, he places the Arimaspians, " who are
knowne by this marke, for having one eie only in

MEMOIR OF PLINY, 49

the mids of their forehead.'' The Anthropophagi,
" sauage and wild men, liuing and conuersing vsually
with the bruit beastes, who have their feet growing
backward, and turned behind the calues of their legs ;
howbeit they run most swiftly ; they are vsed to
drinke out of the skuls of men's heads, and to weare
the scalpes, hair and all, instead of mandellions or
stomachers before their hearts. In Albanie, there
be a sort of people borne with eies like owles, where-
of the sight is fire red, who, from their childhood,
are grey-headed, and can see better by night than
day. In Africke, as some doe auouch, there be cer-
taine houses and families of scorcerers, who, if they
chance to blesse, praise, and speak good words, be-
witch presently withal, insamuch as sheep therewith
die, trees wither, and infants pine and winder away.
Such like there be also among the Triballians, Illyrians,
Thibians, and many others besides, who have the same
quality, and doe the like ; and known they are by
these markes, in one of their eies they have two
sights, in the other the print or resemblance of an
horse. Not far from Rome city there be some few
houses and families called Hirpise, which, at their
solemne yearly sacrifice, in honour of Apollo, vpon
the mount Soracte, walke upon the pile of wood as
it is On fire, in great iollity, and neuer a whit are
burnt withall. Some men there be, that haue cer-
taine members and parts of their bodies naturally
working strange and miraculous effects, and in some
cases medicinable ; as, for example, king PyrhusP

VOL. IX. D

50 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

whose great toe of his right foot was good for them
that had big swelled or indurate spleenes, if he did
hut touch the parties diseased with that toe. Vpon
a certaine mountain in India, named Millus, there
he men whose feet grow the tother way backward,
and on either foot they haue eight toes, as Megas-
thenes doth report. And in many other hills of that
country, there is a kinde of men with heads like dogs,
clad all ouer with skins of wild beasts, who, in lieu
of speech, vse to bark ; armed they are, and well ap-
pointed with sharp and trenchant nailes. There be
women who beare but once in their life, and their
infants presently waxe grey so soon as borne into the
world. Also, there be a kinde of people named
Monoscelli, that haue but one leg apiece, but they are
most nimble, and hop wondrous swiftly ; the same
men are likewise called Sciopodes, for that, in hotest
season of the summer, they ly along on their back,
and defend themselves with their feet against the
sun's heate. Againe, beyond these westward, some
there be without heads standing vpon their neckes,
who cary eies in their shoulders. In the southern
parts, the men kind haue feet a cubit long, but the
women so short and smal, that therevpon they be
called Struthopodes, i. e. sparrow-footed. The Cho-
romandse are a sauage and wild people, distinct voice
and speech they haue none, but instead thereof, they
keep an horrible gnashing and hideous noise ; rough
they are, and hairy all ouer their bodies ; eies
they haue, red like the houlet, and toothed they b<e

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 51

like dogges. Eastward about the sources of the
river Ganges, there is a nation called the Astomes,
for that they haue no mouthes; no meat nor drinke
they take, but liue only by the aire, and smelling of
sweet odours, which they draw in at their nostrills.
Higher up above these, the Pygmsei are reported to be;
called they are so, for that they are but a cubit high,
that is to say, three times nine inches; and these prety
people Homer hath reported to be much troubled
and anoied by cranes. The speech goeth, that in
spring time they set out all of them in battell aray,
mounted vpon the backe of rammes and goats,
armed with bowes and arrowes, and so downe to the
sea-side they march, where they make foule worke
among the egges and young cranelings newly hatched,
which they destroy without all pitty. Thus, for three
months their journey and expedition contineueth,
and then they make an end of their valiant seruice."
After relating various other prodigies of men eight
cubits high, others without shadows, some " without
vermine in their heads or cloths, because they feed
on viper's flesh ; and others with long shagged tailes,
most swift in footmariship, whose eares covered their
whole body ;" he thus winds up his catalogue of hu-
man monstrosities : " See how Nature is disposed for
the nons to diuise full wittily in this and such like pas-
times to play with mankiride, thereby not only to make
herself merry, but set vs a wondering at such strange
miracles." We shall pass by his specimens of mon-
strous births, hippocentaurs, twins, triplets, change-

52 MEMOIR OF PLINY

lings, &CM with the influence of the moon on " vn-
timely trauells," and conclude with his philosophi-
cal reflections on man. The following are the re-
marks which suggest themselves to him on a re-
view of the whole subject. " I am abashed much,
and very sory to thinke and consider what a poore
and ticklish beginning man hath, the proudest crea-
ture of all others, when the smell only of the snuffe
of a candle put out, is the cause ofttimes that he pe-
i ishe in the wombe ; and yet, see these great tyrants,
and such as delight only in carnage and bloudshed,
haue no better origina), Thou, then, that presumest
vpon thy bodily strength, thou that standest so much
vpon fortune's fauours, and hast thy hands full of
her bountifull gifts ; thou, I say, that busiest thy head
euermore, and settest thy minde vpon conquests and
victories; thou that art, vpon euerie good successe
and gale of prosperity, puffed up with pride, and
takest thyself for a god, neuer thinkest that thy life,
when it was hung vpon so single a thred, with BO
small a matter might haue miscarried. Nay more,
euen at this day thou art in more danger than so,
if thou chance to be but etung or bitten with the
little tooth of a serpent ; or if but the very kernell of
a raisin goe downe thy throat wrong, as it did with
the poet Anacreon ; or, as Fabius, a senator of Rome,
ventured to swallow a small haire, which strangled
him. Of all other creatures, Nature hath brought
forth man bare, and cloathed him with the good and
riches of others. To all the rest she hath giuen suf-

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 53

ficient to clad them, euery one according to their
kind ; as, namely, shells, pods, prickes, hard hides,
shag, hristles, haire, downe, feathers, quills, skales,
and fleeces of wooll. Man alone, poore wretch, she
hath layed all naked upon the hare earth, euen on
his birth day, to cry and vvraul presently from the
very first houre that hee is home, in such sort, as
among so many liuing creatures there is none sub-
ject to shed tears and weepe like him ; and verilie to
no babe or infant it is giuen to laugh till he bee four-
ty daies old, and that is counted very early. O folly
of all follies euer to thinke (considering this simple
beginning of ours) that we were sent into this world
to Hue in pride, and carie our heads aloft ! The first
hope that we conceiue of our strength, the first gift
that time affordeth vs, maketh vs no better than
four-footed beasts." Some of the examples of handi-
craft mentioned by Pliny, are curious, as shewing
the great perfection to which the manual arts had
then arrived in Rome. " Cicero hath recorded that
the whole poeme of Homer, called Ilias, was written
on a piece of parchment, which was able to be crush-
ed within a nut-shell. Callicrates vsed to make pis-
mires, and other such like little creatures, out of yvo-
rie, so artificially, that other men could not discerne
the parts of their body one from another. There was
one Myrmecides, excellent in that kinde of work-
manship, who, of the same matter, wrought a cha-
riot with foure wheels, and as many steeds, in so little
roome, that a silly flie might couer all with her

54 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

wings. Also, he made a ship with all the tackling
to it, no bigger than a bee might hide it with her
wings."

The eighth book discusses land animals ; con-
taining notices, or rather anecdotes, of elephants, dra-
gons, lions, panthers, tigers, cameleopards, unicorns,
wolves, hysenas, ounces, crocodiles, the river-horse,
the rhinoceros, deer, horses, apes, mules, oxen, sheep,
goats, swine, hares, rabbits, apes, monkeys, serpents,
lizards, squirrels, urchins, badgers, rats, and mice.
Many wonderful stories are told of the elephant, the
lion, the wolf, &c. and the combats of these ferocious
animals which the emperors, consuls, and generals,
exhibited at Rome for the amusement of the people ;
but the scientific reader will look in vain for any
thing like classification or methodical arrangement,
(that indeed was not Pliny's object,) except that he
has begun with the largest, and ends with the small-
er genera. Of elephants, lions, and wolves, some cu-
rious particulars are related. The following is a short
extract from the chapter on " Dogges." " Among
those domesticall creatures that conuerse with vs,
there be many things worth the knowledge, and
namely, as touching dogges, the most faithfull and
trustye companions of all others to man. And in
verie truth, I have heard it credibly reported of a
dogge that, in defence of his master, fought hard
against theeues robbing by the highway side; and ai-
belt he was sorre wounded, even to death, yet would
he not abandon the dead body of his master, but

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 55

driue away both wild foule and sauage beaste from
seizing on his carkasse. There was a king of the
Garamants exiled, and recouered his royal state
againe, by the means of 200 dogges, that fought for
him against al those who made resistance, and brought
him home maugre his enemies. The Colophonians
and Castabalians maintained certaine squadrons of
mastiue dogges for their war seruice, and those were
put in the vanguard, to make the head and front of
the battell, and were neuer knowne to draw back
and refuse fight. These were their trustiest auxi-
laries, and aid soldiers, and neuer so greedy as to
call for pay. In a battell, when the Cimbrians were
defeated, and put all to the sword, their dogges de-
fended the baggage, yea, and their houses, (such as
they were,) caried ordinarily vpon chariots. Jason,
the Lycian,'had a dogge, who, after his master was
slain, would neuer eat meat, but pined himself to
death. Duris maketh mention of another dogge,
which he named Hircanus, that so soon as the fu-
nerall fire of king Lysimachus, his master, was set
a burning, leapt into the flame ; and so did another at
the funerall of king Hiero. But this passeth al, which
happened in our time, and standeth vpon record in
the publicke Registers, namely, in the yeare that Ap-
pius Junius and P. Silus were consuls ; at which
time as T. Sabinus and his seruants were executed
for an outrage committed vpon the person of Nero,
sonne of Germariicus: one of them that died had
a dogge, which could not be kept from the prison

56 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

dore, and when his master was throwne downe the
staires, (called Scalae Gemoniae,) would not depart
from his dead corps, but kept a most pitteous howl-
ing and lamentation about it, in the sight of a great
multitude of Romanes that stood round about to see
the execution ; and when one of the companie threw
the dogge a piece of meat, he straightwaies caried it
to the mouth of his master lying dead. Moreouer,
when the carkasse was throwne into the river Ti-
beris, the same dogge swam after, and made all the
mean he could to bear it up aflote, that it should not
sink ; and to the sight of this spectacle, and fidelitie
of the poore dogge to his master, a number of people
ran forth by heapes from the citie to the water side.
Certes, the longer we Hue, the more things we ob-
serue and marke still in these dogges. As for hunt-
ing, there is not a beast so subtle, so quick, and so
fine of scent, as is the hound ; he hunteth and follow-
eth the beaste by the foot, training the hunter that
leads him by the coller and leash, to the very place
where the beaste lieth. Hauing once gotten an eie
of his game, how silent and secret are they riotwith
standing ; and yet how significant is their discouerie
of .the beaste vnto the hunter, first with wagging
their taile, and afterwards with their nose and snout
as they doe ; and therefore it is no maruell if, when
hounds or beagles be ouer old, wearie and blinde, men
carie them in their armes to hunt, for to wind the
beaste, and by the very scent of the nose to shew and
declare where the beaste is at harbour. To prevent

MEMOIR OF PLINY. \ £Vj 57

that dogges fall not mad, it is good, for thirtie or for-
tie daies space, to mingle hens or pullins dung espe-
cially with their meate ; againe, if they be growing
into that rage, or tainted already, to give them el-
lebor with their meat. Columella writeth, that when
a whelpe is just fortie daies old, if his taile be bitten
off at the nethermost joint, and the sinew or string
that remaineth after be likewise taken away, neither
the taile will grow any more, nor the dogge fall euer
to be mad."

The ninth book treats of fishes and water animals ;
containing " stories, notable things, and obseruatlons,
to the number of 650, collected." Whales, dolphins,
tortoises, seals, mullets, salmon, lampreys, eels, crabs,
wilks, cockles, the murex, and other shell-fish, are
jumbled together in the same class with tritons, mer-
maids, nereides, and other fabulous creatures. The
only attempt at definite order is founded on the co-
vering or skin ; some, as seals and hippopotami,
having hide and hair ; others skin only, as the dot-
phins ; tortoises are covered with a substance resem-
bling bark ; oysters and other shell- fish with a sub-
stance as hard as flint ; echini with crusts and
prickles ; fishes with scales ; sharks with a rough
skin fit for polishing wood ; lampreys with a soft
skin ; and polypi with none at all. The most inte-
resting portion of this book is that which treats of
the pearl oyster, the murex, buccinum, &c., which
supplied the Romans with their celebrated purple
dye. " That beautifull colour, so much in request

58 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

for dyeing of fine cloth, the purple fishes haue in
the midst of the neck and javves. And nothing else
it is but a little thin liquor with a white veine ; and
that is it which maketh that rich fresh and bright
colour of deepe red purple roses. As for all the rest
of this fish it yeeldeth nothing. Fishers striue to get
them aliue ; for when they die they cast vp and shed
that precious teinture and juice together with their
life. Now the Tynans, when they light vpon any
great purples, they take the flesh out of their shels,
for to get the bloud out of the said veine ; but the
lesser they presse and grind in certaine milles, and
so gather that rich humor which issueth from them.
The best purple colour in Asia is thus gotten
at Tyros ; but in Africke, within the island Me-
ninx, and the coast of the ocean by Getulia; and
in Europe that of Laconica. This is that glorious
colour so full of state and maiestie, that the Roman
lictors, with their rods, halbards, and axes, make
way for ; this is it that graceth and setteth out the
children of princes and noblemen ; this maketh the
distinction between a knight and a counsellor of
state ; this is called for and put on when they offer
sacrifice to pacific the gods ; this giueth a lustre to
all sorts of garments ; — to conclude, our great gene-
rals in the field, and victorious captains in their tri-
umphs, wear this purple in their mantels, enterlaced
and embrodered with gold among. No maruell,
therefore, if purple be so much sought for ; arid men
are to be held excused if they run a madding after

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 59

purples. The best time to fish purples is after the
dog -star is risen, and before the spring ; for when
they haue made that viscous mucilage in manner of
wax (which they doe by rubbing one against an-
other), there iuice or humor for colour is ouer liquid,
thin, and waterish. And yet the purple-diera know
not so much, nor take heed thereof ; whereas indeed
the skill thereof is a speciall point of their art, and
wherein lieth all in all. Well, when they are caught,
as is abouesaid, they take forth that veine before
mentioned, and they lay it in salt, or else they do
not well ; with this proportion ordinarily, viz. to euery
hundred weight of the purple liquor, a sestier, or pint
and halfe of salt. Full three daies and no more it
must thus lie soking in powder; for the fresher that
the colour is, so much is it counted richer and better.
This don, they seethe it in leads, and to euery am-
phore (which containeth about eight wine- gallons)
they put one hundred pounds and a halfe just of the
coloure so prepared. Boile it ought with a soft and
gentle fire ; and therefore the tunnel or mouth of
the furnace must be a good way off the lead or
chawdron ; during which time the workemen that tend
the lead must eftsoones skim off and dense away
the fleshie substance which cannot chuse but stick
to the veines which containeth the iuice of purple
beforesaid. And thus they continue ten days ; by
which time ordinarily the lead or vessell will shew
the liquor cleene, as if it were sufficiently boiled.
And to make a triall thereof, they dip into it a fleece

GO MEMOIR OF PLINY

of wool, wel rensed and washt out of one water into
another ; and till such time as they see it give a per-
fect dye, they stil ply the fire and giue it a higher
seething. That which staineth red is nothing so rich
as that which giueth the deep and sad blackish color.
When it is come to the perfection, they let the wooll
lie to take the liquor five houres ; then they haue it
forth, touse and card it, and put it in again, vntil it
hath drunke up all the color as much as it will."

The tenth hook treats of " Foules and Flying Crea-
tures, and hath in it of notable matters, histories, and
obseruations, 904." It begins with the larger species,
the ostrich, the phoenix, eagles, vultures, hawks, fal-
cons, kites, ravens, peacocks, swans, storks, geese,
and other domestic fowls ; and concludes with re-
marks on the generation, food, drink, diseases, &c.
of animals. In his history of birds Pliny is extreme-
ly meagre and confused ; but he has related a num-
ber of strange and amusing particulars, such as were
current in his time. He believes, on the assertion
of others, that the spinal marrow of a man may turn
into a snake ; that salamanders, eels, and oysters, are
neither male nor female ; and that young vipers eat
their way through the sides of the dam. One or two
examples we shall select ; and first of the common
cock, the description of which would have done no
discredit to Buffon. " These birds (says he) which
are our sentinels by night, and whom Nature hath
created to brecke men of their sleepe, to awaken
and call them vp to their work, haue also a sence

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 61

and vnderstanding of glorie ; they loue to be praised,
and are proud in their kind. Moreouer, they are
astronomers, and know the course of the stars ; they
diuide the day by their crowing, from three houres
to three houres ; when the sun goeth to rest, they
go to roust, and like sentinels they keepe the reliefe
of the fourth watch in the camp ; they will not suf-
fer the sun to rise and steale upon us, but they giue
us warning of it ; and they foretell their crowing
likewise by clapping their sides with their wings.
They are commanders and rulers of their own kind,
be they hens or other cocks ; and in what house so-
euer they be, they will be masters and kings ouer
them. This soueraignty is gotten by plain fight one
with another, as if they knew that naturally they
had spurs, as weapons, given them about their heeles
to try the quarrell ; and many times the combat is so
sharp and hot, that they kill one another ere they
giue ouer. But if one of them happen to be con-
queror, presently vpon his victorie he croweth and
himselfe soundeth the triumph. He that is beaten
makes no words, nor croweth at all, but hideth his
head in silence ; and yet neuerthelesse it goeth
against his stomacke to yeeld the gantlet and give
the bucklers. And not only these cocks of game,
but the very common sort of the dunghill, are as
proud and highminded ; ye shal see them to mount
stately, carying their neck bolt vpright, with a
combe on their head like the crest of a soldier's heV-
met. And there is not a bird besides himself that

62 MEMOIR OP PLINY.

so oft looketh aloft to the sun and sky; and then vp
goeth the taile and all, which he beares on high, turn-
ing backward again on the top like a hook. And
hereupon it is, that marching thus proudly as they
doe, the very lions (the most courageous of all wilde
beasts) stand in fear and awe of them, and will not
abide the sight of them." The best breed, in the
days of Pliny, were from Rhodes, Tenagra, Melos,
and Chalcis. It is recorded of a dunghil cock be-
longing to one Galerius, that it spoke ; and at Per-
gamus a solemn cock fight took place every year in
presence of the people. " Vnto these birds (he con-
tinues, alluding to the superstitions of augury) the
purple robe at Rome and all magistrates of state dis-
dain not to giue honour. They rule our great rulers
euery day ; and there is not a mighty lord or state
of Rome that dare open or shut the dore of his bouse,
before he knows the good pleasure of these fowles ;
and what is more, the soueraigne magistrat in his
majestie of the Roman empire, with the royal en-
signes of rods and axes caried before him, neither
sets forward nor reculeth backe without direction
from these birds. They giue orders to whole armies
to advance forth to battle, and again command them
to stay and keep within the camp. These were
they that gaue the signall and fortold the issue of
all those famous foughten fields, whereby we haue at-
chieued all our victories throughout the whole world/'
The account of the nightingale is also highly-
entertaining, but we must pass it over to make room

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 63

for a few words on the partridge, one of the few
game birds noticed by Pliny. " They couer their egs
with a soft carpet or hilling as it were of fine dust ;
neither doe they sit where they layed them first, nor
yet in a place which they suspect to be much fre-
quented with resort of passengers, but conuey them
to some other place. The males are so quarrellsome,
that oftentimes they are taken by that meanes ; for
when the fouler cometh with his pipe or call (resem-
bling the female) to allure and traine them forth, out
goeth the captaine of the whole flocke directly against
him ; and when he is caught another followeth after,
and so the rest one after another. In like manner
the fouler vses to take the females, at what time as
they seek the male, allured by the chanterell or watch
which calleth them out. Also if he chance to ap-
proch the nest of the brood hen, she will run forth
and lie about his feet ; she wil counterfeit that she
is very heauy, and cannot scarce go, that she is weak
and enfeeblished ; and either in her running, or short
flight that she taketh, she will catch a fall and make
semblance as if she had broken a leg or a wing.
Then will she run out again another way, and when
he is ready to take her vp, yet will she shift away
and escape. And all this doth shee to amuse the
fouler after her, vntill she have trained him a con-
trary way from the couey. Now by the time that
she is past that feare, and freed of the motherly care
she had of her yong ones, then will shee get into
the furrow of some land, lie along on her back, catch

64 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

a clot of earth vp with her feet, and therewith hide
her whole body, and so saue both herself and her
couey. To conclude, partridges (by report) live six-
teene yeeres."

Of birds that have the faculty of articulation, Pliny
mentions one called Taurus, because it lowed like an
ox ; and another which could imitate the neighing of
a horse. " But aboue all other birds of the aire, the
parrats passe for counterfeiting a man's voice, inso-
much as they will seeme to parle and prate our very
speech. This foule cometh out of the Indies, where
they call it sittace. It is all the body ouer greene,
onely it hath a collar about the necke of vermillion
red, different from the rest of her feathers. The
parrat can skil to salute emperors, and bid good mor-
row ; yea, and to pronounce what words she heareth.
She loueth wine well, and when she hath dranke
freely is very pleasant, plaifull, and wanton. She hath
an head as hard as is her beak ; when she lernes to
speak shee must be beaten about the head with a
rod of yron, for otherwise she careth for no blowes.
When she taketh her flight downe from any place,
she lighteth vpon her bill, and resteth thereupon ; and
by that meanes favoureth her feet, which by nature
are weak and feeble. There is a certain pie, but of
nothing so great reckoning and account as the par-
rat, because shee is not far set, but hereby neere at
hand ; howbeit, she pronounces that which is taught
her more plainly and distinctly than the other. These
take a loue to the words that they speak ; for they

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 65

not only learn them as a lesson, but they learn them
with a delight and pleasure, insomuch that a man
shall find them studying thereupon and conning the
said lesson. It is said that none of their kinde are
good to hee made scholars, but such only as feed vp»
on mast, and among them those that have five toes
to their feet, and two yeeres of age. And their
tongue is broader than ordinarie, like as they bee all
that counterfeit man's voice, each one in their k'inde.
Agripina the empresse, wife to Claudius Caesar,
had a black birde, or throstle, at what time as I com-
piled this book, who could counterfeit man's speech,
a thing never seen nor known before. The two
Csesars, also, the young princes (Germanicus and
Drusus), had one stare and sundry nightingales
taught to parle Greeke and Latine. Moreouer, they
would study vpon their lessons, and meditate all day
long, and from day to day come out with new words
still ; yea, and were able to continue a long discourse."
We shall close our ornithological extracts with
an anecdote of " the wit and vnderstanding" of a
raven, which attracted the notice and became a spe-
cial favourite of the Roman people. " In the daies
of Tiberius there was a young rauen hatched in a
nest vpon the church of Castor and Pollux, which to
make a triall how he could flie, took his first flight
into a shoomaker's shop, just over against the said
church. The master of the shop was well enough
content to receiue this bird, as commended to him
from so sacred a place, and iu that regard set great

VOL. IX. E

66 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

store by it. This rauen in a short time being ac-
quainted to man's speech, began to speak, and euery
morning would fly vp to the top of the rostra, or pub-
lic pulpit for orations, where, turning to the open
forum and market place, he would salute and bid
good morrow to Tiberius Csesar, and, after him, to
Germanicus and Drusus, the yong princes, euery
one by their names ; and anon the people of Rome
also that passed by. And when he had so don,
afterwards would flie again to the shoomakerVshop
aforesaid. This duty practised, yea, and continued
for many yeeres together, to the great wonder and
admiration of all men. Now it fell out so that an-
other shoemaker who had taken the shop next vnto
him, either vpon a malicious enuie, or some sudden
spleene and passion of choler, for that the rauen
chanced to meut a little, and set some spot vpon a
paire of his shoos, killed the said rauen. Whereat
the people tooke such indignation, that they, rising
in an uprore, first drove him out of that street, and
made that quarter of the city too hot for him, arid
not long after murdered him for it. But contrarie-
wise, the carkasse of the dead rauen was solemnly
enterred, and thefunerall performed with all ceremo-
nial obsequies that could be deuised ; for the corps
of this bird was bestowed in a coffin, and the same
bedecked with chaplets and garlands of rich flowers
of all sorts, and carried vpon the shoulders of two
blacke Mores, with minstrels before sounding the
Haut-boies, and playing on the fife as far as to the

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 67

funerall fire, two miles without the city, in a certain
open field called Rediculi."

The eleventh book treats of Insects in general ; —
bees, wasps, silkworms, spiders, scorpions, grass-
hoppers, beetles, locusts, ants, moths, and gnats. It
contains also an anatomical description of the human
body, and of various parts of animals, which, though
not remarkable for accuracy, is nevertheless inte-
resting to the student.

The next seventeen books are devoted to Botany,
and give an account of trees, shrubs, and plants ;
their cultivation and uses in domestic economy and
the arts ; and the remedies that are obtained from
them. The products of India and Arabia — incense,
spices, gums, oils, perfumes, &c. ; timber-trees, fruit-
trees, the sugar-cane, the vine, and the different kinds
of wine used by the ancients ; agriculture, horticul-
ture, the rearing of flowers, pot-herbs and vegeta-
bles of all sorts ; together with their natural proper-
ties and medicinal virtues, — are described at great
length. These curious subjects form the most ex-
tensive portion of Pliny's writings ; but they are dis-
cussed in so irregular and unscientific a manner, that
it is impossible, in most cases, to determine the spe-
cies of which he speaks ; and as to the cures alleged
to be accomplished by means of herbs, they are bet-
ter suited to the rude pharmacy of the Romans,
than to the advanced state of medicine in our day.

The twenty-eighth book treats of Dietetics ; reme-
dies derived from various animals ; and the nature

68 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

of certain diseases, such as gout, stone, dropsy •
" spots and wems on the visage, and for those tnat
bee blasted or strucken with a planet ;" how to pre-
serve and recover the hair, to make the breath sweet,
to remove moles and carbuncles, staunch blood, and
allay swellings. These subjects are continued to the
end of the thirty-second book, and give occasion to
the discussion of numerous topics, such as magic or
the black science, the origin of the art and practice
of physic, the nature of water salt and fresh, besides
" receits of medicines, taken from water-creatures,
digested and set in order, according to sundry dis-
eases."

The last five books are occupied in describing
metals, mining, earth, stones ; and the employment
of the latter for the purposes of life, the use of the
arts, and the demands of luxury. Under the head
of colours, mention is made of the most celebrated
paintings ; whilst the articles of stones and marbles
include the most valuable gems and the finest pieces
of statuary. The descriptions of some of the pre-
cious stones in the last book, of amber and beryl for
example, are as good as those in many of our mo-
dern mineralogists.

The books on Mining and Statuary abound with
curious information ; but we must be content to se-
lect a few anecdotes from the chapters on Painting.
" Concerning pictures, and the first originall of paint-
er's art, I am not able to resolue and set downe any
thing for certaine ; neither is it a question pertinent

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 69

to my designe and purpose. I am not ignorant that
the Egyptians do vaunt thereof, auouching that it
was deuised among them, and practised 6000 yeres
before there was any talk or knowledge thereof in
Greece : a vain brag and ostentation of theirs, as
all the world may see. As for the Greeke writers,
some ascribe the inuention of painting to the Si-
cyouians, others to the Corinthians. But they do
all jointly agree in this, that the first pourtrait was
nothing els but the bare pourflirig and drawing one-
ly the shadow of a person to his just proportion and
liniments. This first draught or ground they began
afterwards to lay with one simple colour, and no
more ; which kind of picture they called Monochro-
maton, L e. one-coloured, for distinction from other
pictures of sundry colours. As for the linearie por-
traying, or drawing shapes and proportions by lines
alone, it is said that either Philocles the Egyptian,
or els Cleanthes the Corinthian, was the inuentor
thereof. But whosoever deuised it, certes it is, Ar-
dices the Corinthian, and Telephanes the Sicyonian,
were the first that practised it ; howbeit, colours they
vsed none ; yet they proceeded thus far as to dis-
perse their lines within, as well as to draw the pour-
fle ; and all with a coale arid nothing els. The first
that took upon him to paint with colour was Cleo-
phantus the Corinthian, who (as they say) took no
more than a peice of red pot-sherd, which he ground
into powder, and this was all the colour that he
vsed.

70 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

" In Italy the art of painting was grown to some
perfection before the time of Tarquinius Prisons,
King of Rome ; for proofe whereof, extant their be,
at this day to be seen at Ardea, within the temples
there, antique pictures, and indeed more ancient
than the city of Rome; and no pictures, I assure
you, came euer to my sight which I wonder so much
at, namely, that they should continue so long fresh,
and as if but newly made, considering the places
where they be are so ruinat and vncouered ouer
head. At Csere there also continue certaine pictures,
of greater antiquity than those which I have named ;
and, verily, whoever shall view and peruse the rare
workmanship therein, will confesse that no art in the
world grew sooner to the height of absolute perfec-
tion than it, considering that during the state of
Troy no man knew what painting was. Amongst the
Romanes it grew betimes into reputation, as may be
seen by the Fabii, a most noble and honourable house
in Rome, who, from this science, were syrnamed Pic-
tores, i. e. the Painters, 450 yeares after the founda-
tion of our city. Next after this, the workmanship
of Pacuvius the poet was highly esteemed, and gaue
much credit to the art. But the principall credit
that painters attaind vnto at Rome was by the means
of M. Valerius Maximus, who was the first that pro-
posed to the view of all the world, one picture in a
table wherein he caused to be painted that battel in
Sicily wherein himselfe had defeated the Carthagi-
nians and King Hiero. Lastly, in the publicke plaies

MEMOIR OF PLINF. 71

which Claudius Pulcher exhibited at Roue, the
painted clothes about the stage and theatre (which
represented building), brought this art into great ad-
miration ; for the workmanship was so artificiall and
liuely, that the very rauens in the aire, deceived with
the likenesse of houses, flew thither apace, for to set-
tle thereupon, supposing, verily, these had been tiles
and roofs indeed."

Of the Grecian painters, and " notable pictures
to the number of 305," Pliny gives a most interest-
ing account. " Cimon the Cleonsean first deuised
the works called Catagrapha, i. e. pourtraits and
images standing byassed and sidelong, the sundry ha-
bits, also, of the visage and cast of the eie, making them
to look, some backward ouer their shoulder, others
aloft, and some againe downward. His cunning it
was to shew in a picture, the knitting of the mem-
bers in every ioint ; to make the veines appeare how
they branched and spread ; and besides, the first he
was that counterfeited in flat pictures the plaits,
folds, wrinckles, and hollow lappets of the garment.
Phinseus, the brother of Phidias, it was that painted
the battel betweene the Athenians and Persians vpon
the plains of Marathon. Polygnotus the Thasian
was the first that painted women in gay and light
apparell, with their hoods and other head attire of
sundry colours. His inuention it was to paint images
with their mouths open, to make them shew their
teeth ; and, in one word, represented such varietie of
countenance, far different from the rigid and heauy

72 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

looke of the visage before his time. Parasius, an-
other famous painter, it is reported, was so bold
as to challenge Zeuxis himselfe openly ; in which
contention and triall, Zeuxis, for proofe of his cun-
ning, brought vpon the scaffold a table, where-
in were clusters of grapes so liuely painted, that the
very birds of the aire flew flocking thither to bee
pecking at the said grapes. Parasius, again, for his
part, to shew his workmanship, came with a picture,
whereon hee had painted a linnen sheet, so like to a
sheet indeed, that Zeuxis, in a glorious brauerie and
pride of his heart, came to Parasius with these words,
by way of a scorn and frumpe, * Come on, sir, away
with your sheet at once, that we may see your good-
ly picture ;' but perceiuing his own error, he was
mightily abashed, and, like an honest-minded man,
yeelded the uictory to his aduersary, saying withal),
* Zeuxis hath deceiued poore birds, but Parasius
hath beguiled Zeuxis, a professed artisane.' But
Apelles surmounted all that either were before or
came after. His order was, when he had finished a
piece of work or painted table, to set it forth in some
open gallerie or thoroufare, to be seen of folke that
passed by ; and himselfe would lye close behind it, to
hearken what faults were found therewith, preferring
the judgment of the common people before his owne.
And, as the tale is told, it fell out vpon a time that
a shoomaker, as he went by, seemed to controlle his
workmanship about the shoo or pantofle that he had
made to a picture, namely, that there was one latchet

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 73

fewer there than should be. Appelles acknowledged
the fault, mended it by next morning, and set forth
his table as his manner was. The same shoomaker
coming by agairie, took some pride vnto himselfe that
his admonition had sped so well, and was so bold as
to cauil at something about the leg. Appelles could
not endure that, but puttirg forth his head from be-
hind, * Sirrah,' quoth he ' remember you are but a
shoomaker, and therefore meddle no higher, I aduise
you;' which words afterwards came to be a common
prouerb, Ne sutor ultra crepidam. King Alexander
the Great much frequented his shop in his owne per-
son ; and, besides, gave commandemerit that no paint-
er should be so bardie as to draw his pictures, but
only Appelles. Now, when the King, being in his
shop, would seem to talk much, and reason about
his art, and many times let fal some words to little
purpose, bewraying his ignorance, Appelles, after his
mild manner, would desire his grace to hold his
peace ; and said, * Sir, no more words, for feare the
premise boies there, that are grinding of colours, do
laugh you to scorn.' So reverently thought the king
of him that, being otherwise a cholericke prince, he
would take any words at his hand in that familiar
sort, and be neuer offended."

The preceding short analysis will suffice to give
an idea of the general nature of this great magazine
of natural knowledge, such as it existed among the
Romans. It. affords a store of rare and curious in-
formation on most subjects connected with the arts

74 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

and the physical sciences. Its most obvious defect
is the want of any thing like system or classifica-
tion ; for it is impossible to conjecture on what prin-
ciple the different species of animals, birds, and rep-
tiles are arranged. Like almost every writer of emi-
nence, Pliny has found panegyrists who have lavish-
ed upon him the most extravagant praise, and ca-
lumniators who would allow him no merit whatever.
" It is astonishing (says Buffon) that in every depart-
ment he is equally great. Elevation of ideas and
grandeur of style give additional elevation to his pro-
found erudition. His work, which is as varied as
Nature, paints her always in a favourable light. It
may be said to be a compilation of all that had pre-
viously been written, a transcript of every thing use-
ful and excellent that existed ; but in this copy the
execution is so bold, in this compilation the mate-
rials are disposed in a manner so new, that it is pre-
ferable to the greater part of the originals which treat
of the same subjects." *

The cool judgment of Cuvier, although in our opi-
nion occasionally too severe, is more to be depended
upon, in a scientific point of view, than the enthu-
siasm of Buffon. It were impossible, he remarks, that
in handling, even in the briefest manner, such a prodi-
gious number of topics, Pliny should not have made
known a multitude of facts, not only remarkable in
themselves, but the more valuable to us, as he is the
only author that records them. Unfortunately, how-

* Buffon, Premier Discours sur 1'Histoire Naturelle.

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 75

ever, the manner in which he has collected and stated
them, makes them lose a considerable portion of
their value ; not only from his mingling together the
true and the false, hut more especially from the diffi-
culty, and sometimes the impossibility, of discover-
ing to what creatures he alludes. He was not such
an observer of nature as Aristotle ; still less was lie
a man of genius sufficient to seize, like that great
philosopher, the laws and relations by which nature
has regulated her various productions. He is in ge-
neral nothing more than a mere compiler ; and often
too a compiler unacquainted himself with the mat-
ters about which he treats, and unable to compre-
hend the true force and exact meaning of the opi-
nions which he has collected from others. The ex-
tracts from the works of others he has arranged un-
der certain chapters, adding thereunto from time to
time his own reflections, which have nothing to do
with scientific discussion, properly so called, but
either present specimens of the most superstitious
belief, or are the declamations of a peevish and cha-
grined philosopher. The facts which he has accu-
mulated, therefore, ought not to be regarded in their
relations to the opinions which he himself forms, but
judged by the rules of sound criticism, in conformity
with what we know of the writers themselves, and
the circumstances in which they were placed.

On comparing his extracts with the originals, wheie
the latter have been preserved, and more particularly
with the writings of Aristotle, whom he professes to

76 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

have copied chiefly in his zoological descriptions, it
will he seen that Pliny, in making hie selections, was
far from giving the preference, on every occasion, to
what was most important or most exact in the
authors whom he consulted. He appears in general
to have a strong predilection for things of a singular
or marvellous nature ; for such, too, as harmonise
more than others with the contrasts he is fond of in-
stituting, or the reproaches he is in the habit of
making against the religious opinions of his age.
He does not, it is true, extend an equal degree of
credit to every thing that he relates, hut his doubts
and his belief seem to be taken up very much at
random, and the most puerile tales are not always
those which most excite his incredulity. Hence the
most fabulous creatures — manticori with human
heads and the tails of scorpions — winged horses —
mouthless or one-legged men — catoblepas, whose
sight alone was able to kill, play their part in his
work by the side of the elephant and the lion.* And

* Though we have given the opinion of Cuvier nearly in
his own words, we have said we consider that distinguished
naturalist to be too severe in his animadversions on the cre-
dulity and implicit confidence of Pliny in the fabulous
wonders which he narrates. Some authors have gone so
far as to call him a contemptible impostor — the Mendez
Pinto of antiquity. Both the one and the other of these
accusations have arisen, we are persuaded, from not attend-
ing to the circumstances in which Pliny wrote, or to what
he himself says by way of caution to his readers. In gene-
ral he names his authority for what he relates, and qualifies
his statements by giving them as the reports of others.

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 77

yet all is not false even in those narratives most re-
plete with fiction. We may sometimes detect the

For example, when treating in the 52d chapter of the
eleventh book on the signs and prognostications of longe-
vity to be discovered in certain lines or marks in the hu-
man body, he says : — " I wonder verily that Aristotle not
only belieued, but also sticked not to set downe in writing,
that there were certaine signs in men's bodie, whereby we
might foreknowe whether he were longliued or no. Which
albeit, I take to be but vanities, and not rashly to be ut-
tered without good aduisement ; yet will I touch the same,
and deliuer them in some sort, since so great a clerk as
Aristotle, was, held them for resolutions, and thought them
worthy the penning." Again in the chapter fc< Of Wolves,"
in the eighth book, when speaking of a tradition in Arcadia
that men could be transformed into wolves, by merely
swimming across a certain pool, he thus characterises those
"Greek writers," of whom Cuvier accuses him as being the
servile and credulous copyist. " A wonder it is to see to
what passe these Greeks are come in their credulity ; there
is not so shameless a lye but it findeth one or other of them
to vphold and maintain it." Even the seventh book — that
horrid register of human monsters — noseless or headless
bipeds with claws and shaggy hair — he prefaces with this
general caveat : — " Thus much must I aduertise the read-
ers of this mine history by the way, that I will not pawne
my credit for many things that herein I shall deliuer, nor
bind them to believe all I write, as touching strange and
forreine nations : refer them rather I will to mine authors,
whom in all points more doubtfull than the rest, I will cite
and allege, whom they may belieue if they list. Only let
them not thinke much to follow the Greeke writers," &c.
Whatever may be thought of Pliny's want of discernment
as a writer, or his defects as a naturalist, had his censurers
attended to these and similar passages, they would have
been more sparing of their reproaches, and less apt to
charge him with faults which he never committed, and
:vhich he condemns as much as they do,

78 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

truth which has served them for a basis, by recalling
to mind that these are extracts from the works of
travellers, and by supposing that ignorance and the
love of the marvellous, on the part of the ancient
travellers, have led them into these exaggerations,
and have dictated to them these vague and superfi-
cial descriptions. It has been alleged as another de-
fect in Pliny, that he does not always give the true
sense of the author he translates or copies from, es-
pecially when designating several species of animals.
Although we certainly possess but limited means of
judging with respect to errors of this kind, yet it has
been found that, on many occasions, he has substi-
tuted for the Greek word, which in Aristotle denotes
one kind of animal, a Latin word which belongs to
one entirely different. It is true, indeed, that one
of the greatest difficulties experienced by the ancient
naturalists was that of fixing a nomenclature, and
this want shews itself in Pliny more perhaps than in
any other. The descriptions, or rather imperfect
delineations which he gives, are almost always insuf-
ficient for recognising the several species, where tra-
dition has failed to preserve the particular name ;
and there is even a large number whose names alone
are given without any characteristic mark being ap-
pended, or any means of distinguishing them from
one another. If it were possible still to doubt re-
specting the advantages enjoyed by the modern over
the ancient methods, these doubts would be com-
pletely dispelled by discovering that what the classi-

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 79

cal writers have said relative to the virtues of these
plants, is almost totally and completely valueless to
us, from the impossibility of distinguishing the indi-
vidual plants to which they refer. Our regret, how-
ever, on this account, will he greatly diminished, if
we call to mind with how little care the ancients,
and Pliny in particular, have indicated the medicinal
virtues of plants. They attribute so many fabulous
and even absurd properties to those which we do
know, that we are warranted in being very sceptical
as to the virtues of those that are unknown. If we
are to credit all that Pliny has recorded in that part
of his work which treats of the materia medica, there
is no human ailment for which nature has not pro-
vided twenty remedies ; and these absurdities were
confidently repeated by physicians for nearly two
centuries after the revival of letters.

As regards the scientific facts detailed in his work,
it is obvious that Pliny possesses no real interest at
the present day, except as respects certain manners
and usages of the ancients — certain processes fol-
lowed by their operatives and artizans — and certain
particulars of a geographical and historical nature, of
which we should have been ignorant without his aid.
He traces their progress, he describes their products,
he names the most celebrated artists, he points out
the manner in which their labours were conducted ;
and it cannot be doubted but that, if rightly under-
stood, he would make us acquainted with some of
those secrets by means of which the ancients exe-

80 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

cuted works which we have heen able only imper-
fectly to imitate. Here again, however, the diffi-
culties of his nomenclature present themselves ; he
mentions numerous substances which must enter in-
to compositions, or be subjected to the operations of
the arts, and yet we know not what they are. The
nature of a few may with difficulty be conjectured
by means of certain equivalent characteristics that
are related of them ; but still even at the present
day, when almost eveiy department of letters has
its patrons and its cultivators, it may be said that we
are without a proper commentary on Pliny's Natu-
ral History, — a work which is a desideratum in our
literature- and which would be a task of no small
labour and acquirement, since besides a critical
knowledge of the Greek and Roman tongues, an ex-
tensive acquaintance with every department in phy-
sical science would be essential in him who should
undertake it.*

The only English version, as has been already
stated, is that executed by Dr Philemon Holland,
and published in London in 1601. As a translation
it is generally accurate, but its style is antiquated,
and it fails in the nomenclature of the plants and
animals. This curious performance is dedicated to
the famous Cecil, secretary to Queen Elizabeth, and
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and was
ushered into the world with the following proem : —

* Biographic Universelle, torn. xxxv. Anthon'a Lamp.
Classic. Diction., vol. ii. Art. Plinius.

MEMOIR OF PLINY. 81

" The friendly acceptance which T. Livius of Padua
(also translated hy Dr Holland) hath found in this
Realme since time hee shewed himselfe in English
weed vnto her sacred Majestic, hath trained ouer
vnto him his neighhour Plinius Secundus from Ve-
rona, whome being now arraied in the same habit,
yet fearefull to set foote forward in this forreine
ground without the countenance of some worthie
personage, who might both giue him his hand at his
first entrance, in token of welcome, and also grace him
afterwards with a favourable regard to win acquaint-
ance, I humbly present vnto your honor." On the
continent various editions and translations of Pliny
have appeared in succession. From the beginning of
the sixteenth century there was scarcely a celebrated
city that had not professors, supported at the pub-
lic expense, for lecturing and commenting upon his
Natural History. A host of editors and commenta-
tors followed each other, from the Bishop of Corsica
in 1470, down to Father Hardouiri, who surpassed
all his predecessors in erudition, and who undertook
the work by order of Louis XIV., for the use of the
Dauphin, with the assistance of Bossuet and Huet,
the two most learned prelates in the kingdom. An-
other edition was afterwards projected by the well
known Mons.de Malesherbes, in 1750, aided by some
of the most distinguished savans and academicians
in France, and published at Paris in 1771 in twelve
volumes quarto. That of Franzius was published
at Leipsic in 1778-91, in ten volumes, and being in

VOL. IX. F

62 MEMOIR OF PLINY.

octavo, was perhaps one of the hest and most conve
nient that had appeared, until it was surpassed in
point of typography by that recently published in
London by Valpy, in the Delphin series of the Clas-
sics, entitled the Regent's Edition.

•UNIVEJUSIT-JT jj

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.

COLUMBIDJE OR PIGEONS.

THE Pigeons, or family of the Columbidse, which
furnish the materials for the present volume, are now,
in accordance with their true affinities, admitted into
the order of the Rasores, or Gallinaceous Birds, of
which they form one of the five great groups or
divisions, the other four being represented by the
Pavonidae, Tetraonidae, Struthionidse, and Cracidae.
In this Order, they constitute what is termed an
Aberrant family (considering the Pavonidae and Te-
traonidae as the typical groups) ; and, from the a ffi-
nity that several of the members composing it, she w
to the Insessores or Perching Birds, they become the
medium by which the necessary connexion between
the Rasorial arid Insessorial orders is supported.
Such, indeed, appears to have been nearly the view
taken of this interesting group by the earlier syste-
matists, whose classification was not always conduct-
ed on those philosophical principles which guide

84 NATURAL HISTORY OF

the naturalists of the present day, as we find the
Columbidse arranged alternately among the Rasorial
and Gallinaceous Birds, or sometimes, as an inter-
mediate order, separate from hoth. An investiga-
tion of their habits and economy, as well as their
anatomy, both external and internal, shewing the
close approximation that some species make to the
typical RasoreSj is, however, sufficient to prove that
their affinity to the true Gallinaceous Birds is much
stronger than that which connects them with the
Insessores, though the latter is sufficiently so to
support the requisite connexion between the two
Orders.

Till of late years, the Pigeons appear to have been
a tribe unaccountably neglected ; and, in all the writ-
ings of the earlier authors, they are classed under
one generic head (Columba), without any attempt
to distinguish groups, or to notice the differences of
character and form exhibited by various species, and
particularly apparent in such as approach nearest to
the true Gallinse. Even at the present day, much
remains to be done, as not only do many of the
minor groups remain uii characterized, but even the
greater Divisions or Subfamilies, as they are termed,
are neither precisely nor satisfactorily established.

In the history of the Pigeons and Gallinaceous
Birds, published by M. Temminck some years ago,
that learned author divided the former into three
sections ; the first restricted to the Strong-billed
Arboreal Pigeons, or those species now constituting

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 85

Cuvier's genus Vinago ; the second embracing not
only the typical Pigeons and Turtles, but many other
forms, which appear more nearly allied to his first
section ; and the third including such species as,
from their habits and form, shewed a decided devia-
tion from the Columbine Type, and an evident and
nearer approach to the true Rasorial Birds. Vieil-
lot has since separated the great crowned pigeon or
Goura from the other ground doves, under the ge-
neric title of Lophyrus ; and to our distinguished
naturalist, Mr Swainson, we are indebted for indi-
cating four additional generic groups, under the
titles of gen. Ptilinopus, Ectopistes, Peristera, and
Chamcepelia. To these we have ventured to add
three more ; the first under the name of Carpopha^
ga, containing the large arboreal fruit-ea'' Ig pi-
geons ; the second Phaps, of which Col. chalcoptera,
Auct. is the type ; and the third, Geophilus, repre-
sented by the Col. carunculata and Col. Nicobarica,
species remarkable for their close approximation in
form and habits to the true gallinaceous groups.

Of the subfamilies or five typical forms of the
Columbidse, we can only speak with diffidence
uncertainty, as no analysis of the species sufficiently
strict or extensive has hitherto been instituted, from
whence conclusive deductions can be drawn. We
shall only cursorily observe, that the Arboreal Pi-
geons, embracing Vinago, Swainson's genus Pti-
linopus, our genus Carpophaga, and some other
undefined groups, with feet formed expressly for

86 NATURAL HISTORY OF

perching and grasping, and through which, from
their habits and form, the necessary connexion with
the Insessorial Order is supported, are likely to con-
stitute one ; the True Pigeons, of which our ring-
pigeon and common pigeon may be considered typi-
cal, a second ; the Turtles, and their allies, with feet
of different proportions from the preceding, and gra-
duated tails, a third ; the Ground Pigeons, or Co-
lumbi-gallines of the French naturalists, a fourth ;
and the fifth is not unlikely to be represented by
Vieillot's genus Lophyrus, in which the deviation
from the proper Columbine form is not to that of
the typical Rasores, but to the Cracidce, placed at
the farther extremity, and, like the Columbidae, an-
other aberrant family of the Rasorial Order.

The Columbidae possess a very extensive geogra-
phical distribution, species being found in every
quarter of the world, and in all its cb'mates, except
those within the frigid zones. It is, however, in
the tropical climates of Southern Asia, and the is-
lands of the great Indian Archipelago, that the spe-
cies swarm in the greatest variety and abundance ;
for in these warm and genial climates, a never-fail-
ing supply of food, adapted to each kind, is al-
ways to be found. It is here that most of the
thick-billed pigeons, * vying with the parrots in the
colour of their plumage, and, in some respects, re-
sembling them in their manners, luxuriate amidst
the thick and umbrageous foliage of the banyan, and
other trees, whose fruit affords them a rich and ne-
* Vinago, Cuv.

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 87

ver-failing repast. It is here also that the small
and beautiful Ptilinopi or turtelines, and the larger
Carpophagse, or fruit-eating pigeons, are met with.
It is in the odoriferous region of the Spice Islands,
that these curious birds, the great crowned pigeon
or gowra, and the Nicobar ground pigeon, remark-
able for their respective deviation from the proper
Columbine form, find a suitable abode ; besides a
variety of other species belonging to different groups.
Africa also abounds in many beautiful species, among
which are several of the genus Vinago ; and to this
continent belongs the Col. carunculata, Auct., a bird
that makes as near an approach as any of the family
to the true Rasorial groups. In both regions of the
American Continent, we meet with a great variety
of species, many of them possessing the typical form
of the family, as represented by the ring-pigeon or
the common pigeon ; others approaching, both in
form and habits, in a greater or less degree, to the
typical Gallinaceous Birds, and in a manner taking
the place of, or representing certain forms of the
Tetraonidse, of which that continent is destitute.
In Europe, the species become greatly reduced in
number, and are confined to its warm and temperate
districts, as it is only where the cerealia and legumi-
nous plants nourish, and the oak and the beech bring
their fruit to perfection, that the pigeons can find a
regular supply of their appropriate food ; and even
in many of those districts where they abound du-
ring the summer and early autumnal months, they

88 NATURAL HISTORY OF

are obliged to migrate to warmer latitudes during
the severity of winter, when the ground becomes
congealed by frost, or covered with snow.

In no tribe of the feathered race do we meet with
a plumage better adapted to gratify and delight the
eye, than that of the pigeons or family of the Co-
lumbidae ; for among the numerous species of which
it is composed, there exists a diversity as well as a
brilliancy of effect, that cannot be contemplated with-
out admiration. In some, the plumage shines with
a dazzling and metallic gloss, varying in tint with
every motion of the bird, and which vies in lustre
with that of the diminutive and sparkling humming-
bird. Such is that of the Carpophaga eenea, Ocea-
nica, and many other species. In other genera, as
Vinago and Ptilinopus, the plumage is admirably as-
simi'ated to the arboreal habits of the birds, con-
sisting of delicate shades of yellows and vivid greens,
just sufficiently contrasted with smaller masses of
richer or more resplendent hues to produce the hap-
piest effect. In the typical groups again, a modest
yet chaste assortment of colours generally prevails,
and which, though less striking at first sight, never
fails to give permanent satisfaction to the eye. As
the species approach the true Rasorial tribes, the
colours become more uniform in tint, but still, in
certain lights, are encircled by glossy reflections,
which especially prevail upon the region of the neck
arid breast.

In texture the plumage is generally close and ad-

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 89

pressed, and the feathers feel hard and firm to the
touch, from the thickness and strength of the rachis
or shaft. Upon the neck they assume a variety of
forms, in some species being rounded and stiff, and
disposed in a scale-like fashion ; in others, of an
open, disunited texture, or with the tips divided and
curiously notched ; and, in the hackled and nicobat
pigeons, they are long, acuminate, and laciniated,
like those of the domestic cock ; and we may add,
that, in nearly all, they are so constituted as to re-
flect prismatic colours, when held at various angles
to the light.

In their mode of nidification, the majority of the
Columhidaa bears a close analogy to the Insessores ;
for, with the exception of some few of the ground pi-
geons, they build their nest in trees. The number
of eggs laid at each period of hatching is (with the
above exception) restricted to two, the colour white,
or yellowish-white ; they are incubated by both sexes,
the male relieving his mate whenever she is com-
pelled to quit the nest in search of food. The young
are hatched with merely a thin sprinkling of hairy-
like down, and are fed by their parents in the riest
till able to fly. At first the food is administered in
a soft or pulpy state, being thrown up by the old
birds from their crop, after undergoing a partial di-
gestion, by which it is rendered a fit nutriment for
the callow young ; but as they advance in age, it is
given in a less comminuted form.

The flight of many of the arboreal, and most of

90 NATURAL HISTORY OF

the typical pigeons, is powerful and rapid, the wings
being fully developed, and often acuminate ; and the
pectoral muscles strong, and calculated to support
it for a long continuance without fatigue. As the
species depart from the typical form, and approach
Hearer to the true Rasores in their form and habits,
these members become shorter and rounded, and,
when expanded, rather concave beneath, like those
of the common partridge. In these groups, the
flight is abrupt, and at a low elevation, and can only
be supported for a short time. This deficiency of
flight, however, is in a great degree compensated
by the increased length of their legs, which enables
them to run with great rapidity upon the surface of
the ground.

In disposition the ColumbidaB are wild and timo-
rous, and with the exception of the common pigeon
and ringed turtle, the attempts to reclaim or domes-
ticate other species have hitherto failed. In regard
to the first mentioned kind, it may be observed,
that its peculiar habits and economy appear to have
been taken advantage of from the remotest period,
for besides the interesting mention made of it in the
earlier pages of the sacred volume, when it was sent
forth as a messenger from the ark, and returned the
harbinger of glad tidings, bearing the olive branch of
peace in its mouth, we afterwards find it and the
turtle enumerated among the sacrificial offerings and
atonements under the Mosaical dispensation. Among
the heathen nations, from the affection exhibited

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 91

by the sexes to each other, it was dedicated to the
Goddess of Love, and represented as her constant
and appropriate attendant. That the common pigeon
and domestic turtle of the present day, are the same
species which were thus cultivated and protected by
the ancients, is evidently and satisfactorily proved
by the descriptions of various authors, as well as the
numerous and faithful representations handed down
to us by the chisel of their sculptors.

The voice or notes of the Columbidae are few,
in all the species much akin to each other, and
consist of guttural sounds or cooings frequently re-
peated ; in many they are plaintive and tender in
tone, in others hoarse and rather unpleasant. They
are principally used by the male when paying court
to his mate, and are mostly confined to the pairing
and breeding season.

As a food for man, the flesh of the pigeons is
wholesome and very nutritious, generally rich in
flavour, juicy, and highly coloured.

The general characters of the family may be thus
stated : Bill strait, the tip hard and horny, more or
less arched and deflected, the base covered with a
soft, naked, and bulging membrane, which partly
covers and protects the nostrils. Orbits of the eyes
more or less naked. Feet with four toes, nearly
divided, three anterior and one posterior, the latter
placed on the same base or plane with the front toes.

We now commence our description of the family
with the

92

GENUS VINAGO,— CUVIER.

IN the warm and intertropical climates of Asia
and Africa, besides a variety of pigeons, character-
ized by a form similar to that of our ring-pigeon and
other European species, groups of this beautiful race
are met with, differing from them in many particu-
lars, both as to form, habits, and economy, and con-
stituting independent genera or divisions in this ex-
tensive family. Such are the members of the genus
Vinago, a group which Cuvier first separated from
the typical pigeons, and of which our first plate,
representing a common though elegant species, is
given as an example. The predominating colours
in all are green and yellow of different intensities,
contrasted more or less in certain parts with rich
purple or reddish-brown. The greater wing-coverts
and secondary quills are also in most of the species
distinctly margined or edged with a conspicuous
line of the brightest yellow, which gives them a
singular and beautiful effect. In the more essen-
tial characters, their bill is much stronger and thicker
than that of the pigeons, the tip or horny part being
of a very hard substance, much hooked and inflated,
the nostrils are more exposed, and scarcely exhibit
any appearance of the swollen or projecting mem-

VINA GO.

93

brane so conspicuous in the common
pigeon and its congeners. The legs
are very short and partly clothed with
feathers helow the tarsal joint; the
feet are formed expressly for perch-
ing or grasping; the sole, or that part
of the foot which rests immediately
upon the branch, being greatly en-
larged by the extension of the mem-
brane, giving it a firm base of sup-
port ; the exterior toe is longer than
the inner, and the claws are very
strong, sharp, and semicircular, close-
f ly resembling in form those of the
woodpecker or other scansorial birds.
The wings are of mean length, but
strong and pointed, the second and
third quill-feathers being nearly equal,
and the longest in each wing.

In all the species submitted to ex-
amination, the third quill has the cen-
tral part of the inner web deeply
notched, as if a piece had been cut
out, as represented in the wood-cut
annexed. This particular character
is confined to the genus, but many
other members of the Columbidse
possess peculiarities as striking in
the form of the first and other quill-
feathers, which, as modifications of

94 VINAGO.

form in members of such importance, become of
value in arranging tbe species according to their af-
finities. The tail consists of fourteen feathers.

In accordance with the structure of their feet,
they are the constant inhabitants of woods, whero
they subsist upon berries and fruits. In disposition
they are wild and timorous. Our first plate repre-
sents a species common in many parts of the east.
It is the

ISITY

.CAL

AROMATIC VINAGO.

Vinago aromatica — CUVIER.
PLATE I.

Columba aromatica, Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 599. sp. 23. — Co-
lombe aromatique, Temminck, Pig. et Gall. 1. p. 51.

THE Aromatic Vinago is found in all the warmer
parts of Continental India, as well as in Java and
other adjacent islands, but being strictly an arboreal
bird, it is only to be met with in the retirement of
the forest, or amid the thick and expansive foliage
of the banyan, the sacred tree of the East, and which
from its peculiar mode of growth almost constitutes
a forest of itself. Ensconced in this leafy covering,
in which it is still more effectually concealed by the
assimilating colour of its plumage, * it passes the

* The following note accompanied the skins of V. mili-
taris and aromatica sent from India, and as illustrative of
their peculiar habits, we make no apology for thus introduc-
ing it : " Green Pigeon. — This beautiful bird has brilliant
red eyes. Its feet are something like the parrot's, and it
climbs in the same way as that bird. It is very difficult to
find, for although a flock is marked into a tree, yet its co-
lour is so similar to the leaf of the banyan (on the small
red fig of which it feeds), that if a bird does not move, you
may look for many minutes before you can see one, al-
though there may be fifty in the tree."

96 AROMATIC VINAGO.

greatest part of its life, with an abundance of food
always within reach, the fruit of this tree, which is
a species of fig, constituting its favourite and prin-
cipal support.

Temmirick, in his " Histoire des Pigeons et Gal-
linacees," besides a description of the Aromatic Vi-
nago, agreeing with the specimens we have seen,
describes two varieties, one with the head and neck
of a reddish colour, the other with the under parts
of the plumage grey ; but whether such varieties are
accidental, or result from age or sex, he has riot
mentioned. He also considers the Pompadour and
hook-billed pigeons of Latham, and the yellow-faced
pigeon of Brown, as all referable to this species ; but
of the correctness of this supposition, it is impossi-
ble, without a comparison of specimens, to speak
with any degree of certainty, especially where the
species bear so great a general resemblance to each
other.

The Aromatic Vinago is of a wild and timorous
disposition, and is generally seen in flocks or socie-
ties, except during the period of reproduction, when
they pair, and retire to the recesses of the forest.*

* Of the notes of this bird no notice has been taken by
any of its describers,but those of a nearly allied species, the
Vinago Sphoenura, appear to be more diversified than the
usual cooings of most of the Columbidse, as we may collect
from the following anecdote, communicated by Mr Neill.
who kept two birds of this species in confinement for some
years. He says, " I had two, but both I believe were males.
Both had a song very different from the mere cooing of the
Ring Dove. When they sung in concert, they gave the

AROMATIC VINAGO. 97

The nest is simple and composed of a few twigs
loosely put together, and the eggs are two, a num-
ber which prevails in the majority of the family, a
few of the ground pigeons, which approach more
nearly to the other Gallinaceous tribes, being the
only exceptions. The base or softer part of the bill
is blackish -grey, the tip yellowish-white, strong,
much hooked, and bulging on the sides. The fore-
head is of a bright siskin green, the crown greenish-
grey, the chin and throat gamboge-yellow, the re-
mainder of the neck, the breast, belly, lower back,
and rump, yellowish-green. The upper back or
mantle, and a part of the lesser wing coverts, are of
a rich brownish -red, and exhibit a purplish tinge in
certain lights. The greater wing-coverts and secon-
dary quills are greenish-black, with a deep and well-
defined edging of the purest gamboge-yellow through-
out their length. The tail has the two middle
feathers wholly green, and slightly exceeding the
rest in length ; these are of a bluish grey with a dark
central band. The under tail-coverts are yellowish-
white, barred with green. The legs and toes red,
the claws pale-grey, strong, sharp, and semicircular.
Our next plate represents the

same little tune, but on different keys. After the death of
one, the survivor used to sing at command, or at all events
when incited to it, by beginning its tune."

VOL. IX.

98

SHARP-TAILED VINAGO.

Vinago oxyura.
PLATE II.

Columba oxyura, Reinwardt. — Columba a queue pointue,
Temminck, PL Color, pi. 240.

IN this species a slight deviation from the typical
example delineated in the foregoing plate may be ob-
served, the wings being devoid of the yellow edging
so conspicuous in most of them, and the tail having
acquired a more conical form, with the two middle
feathers acuminated and projecting considerably be-
yond the rest. This modification seems to indicate
some slight deviation in the habits and economy of
the bird; but as M. Temminck's description (the only
one hitherto published) is totally silent on this in-
teresting point, we are obliged to confine ourselves
to a mere description of the plumage.

The greater part of the body, both above and be-
low, is green, but brightest upon the throat and
belly. Across the breast is a narrow bar or half
collar of saffron-yellow ; the vent and under tail-co-
verts are yellow, the latter with a great part of their
inner webs green. The greater quills are black, but

VI NT A (TO OXYURA.

SHARP-TAILED VINAGO. 99

some of the secondaries are margined with grey.
The elongated tail-feathers have their upper surface
of a greyish-brown ; the remainder are of a deep grey
at the base, succeeded by a black bar, and terminat-
ing with bluish-grey. The under surface of all the
tail-feathers is black for two-thirds of their length
from the base, the tips being of a pale pearl-grey. The
tarsi are partly dotted with green feathers, the re-
mainder and toes red ; the claws are grey and much
hooked. The bill is pretty stout, the tip arched
and inflated, and of a leaden or grey colour ; the soft
or basal part is of a deep bluish-grey.

This kind is also a native of Java, where it is
widely disseminated, and was first discovered by
MM. Reinwardt and Diard, who forwarded specimens
to the Parisian and Netherland Museums.

In addition to the species here described, the fol-
lowing are found in India and its islands : V. mili-
taris, psittacea, pornpodora, and vernans. In Africa,
the V. Australis, calva, and Abyssinica, and a new
species from the Himalaya has been figured by Mr
Gould in his beautiful Century of Birds from that
district, under the title of Vinago sphenura.

We now pass on to a beautiful group : It is the

100

GENUS PTILINOPUS,— SWAINSON.

NEARLY allied to the Thick-billed Pigeons or
Vinago, in the form of the feet, arboreal habits, and
prevailing dispositions of colours, we find another
extensive group inhabiting the tropical forests of In-
dia and Australia, and the islands of the Pacific, but
differing from that genus in the weakness and slender
structure of their bill, which member approaches
nearer in form to that of the typical pigeons. To
this group, taken collectively, Mr Swainson, in the
first volume of the Zoological Journal, in an inte-
resting paper containing observations on the Colum-
bidse, has given the title of Ptilinopus ; but as he there
points out the different structure of the wing, in re-
gard to the form of the first quill-feather, as it exists
in the Columba purpurata, Lath., and Col. mag-
nifica, Temm., he proceeds to observe, that it may
be necessary still further to subdivide it. This, up-
on an investigation and analysis of a variety of spe-
cies, we feel inclined to do, restricting the generic
title of Ptilinopus to that group of smaller pigeons
in which the first quill-feather becomes suddenly nar-
rowed or attenuated towards the tip, and the tarsi
are feathered almost to the division of the toes.
This group is typically represented by the Col. pur-
purata of Lath., and also contains two beautiful spe-

PTILINOPUS. 101

cies figured in the " Planches coloriees," C. monacha,
and C. porphyrio, the C. cyano-virens of Lesson also
belongs to it. To the other groups, of which C. mag-
nifica, Temra., and Columba CEnea, Lath., may be
taken as typical examples, we have given provisionally
the name of Carpophaga, as indicative
of the fruits upon which they subsist.
In the genus Ptilinopus, as thus re-
stricted, and which, in conjunction with
Carpophaga, seems to connect Vi-
nago or Thick-hooked-billed Pigeons,
with the typical Columbidse, the bill
is comparatively slender, the base
slightly depressed, and the soft cover-
ing of the nostrils riot much arched
or swollen ; the tip though hard is little
inflated, with a gentle curvature ; the
forehead is rather low and depressed,
the legs are short but strong, the tarsi
clothed with feathers nearly to the divi-
sion of the toes ; the feet are calculated
for grasping, and are similar in form
to those of Vinago, the sides of the
toes being enlarged by the extension of
the lateral membrane, and the outer
longer than the inner one ; the wings
are strong and of moderate length, the
first quill-feather considerably shorter
than the second, and suddenly narrowed
towards the tip, a peculiarity also pos-

102 PTILINOPUS.

sessed by several pigeons belonging to other distinct
groups, and by which means a connection is thus
kept up between them. The third and fourth quills
are nearly equal to each other, and are the longest in
the wing. The tail is of proportionate length, and
generally square at the end. They inhabit the Malac-
cas, the Celebes, and the islands of the Pacific, feed-
ing upon the various fruits and berries produced in
such teeming abundance in those warm and produc-
tive latitudes. The predominating colour of their
plumage, like that of Vinago, is green, varied in
parts with yellow and orange, and in some beauti-
fully encircled with masses of purplish-red and vivid
blue. Their habits seem retired, as they pass the
greatest part of their life in the solitudes of the fo-
rest, and their resort is only to be detected by their
frequent and audible cooing notes.

The first example we give of this beautiful genus,
is the

k- v ^

103

PURPLE-CROWNED TURTELINE.

Ptilinopus purpuratus. — SWAINSON.
PLATE III.

Columba purpurata, Lath. Index Or nith. 2, 398, sp. 17.—
Temm. Pig. et Gall. 8vo, i. p. 180 — Wag. Syst. Av. No.
30 — Purple- crowned Pigeon, Lath. Syn. iv. 626, 15.

THIS lovely bird, first described by Latham in his
General Synopsis, from specimens brought from
Tonga- Taboo, in which, as well as Otaheite, and
others of the Friendly Islands, it is found numerously
disseminated in all their wooded districts, is also met
with in the Celebes, the Isle of Timor, and in Aus-
tralia. It is not, however, improbable that other nearly
allied species have sometimes been mistaken for it,
as some supposed varieties have been described,
which it is difficult to reconcile with the usual plu-
mage of the P. purpuratus. Such, indeed, appears to
be the opinion of Wagler, who, detailing the plumage
of both sexes as alike, considers the bird figured by
M. Temminck, in the " Planches Coloriees," for the
female of this species, to be distinct, and has accord-
ingly, in his Systema Avium, named it Columba
xanthogastra, and such also may be the case with

104 PURPLE-CROWNED TURTELINE.

the variety mentioned by Latham and Temminck,
in which the crown of the head, instead of a bright
ruby or amaranth colour, is of a very deep purple,
and altogether devoid of the yellow encircling band
so conspicuous in the true P. purpuralus. Mr Swain-
son, again, has described, in the paper formerly al-
luded to, a supposed female or young bird, in which
the ruby-coloured crown is merely indicated by a
spot of dull lilac in front of the head, and the yellow
line encircling the crown is only visible near the eye.
Under such circumstances, it is difficult to say what
the plumage of the female actually is, and whether
the varieties described are to be attributed to age,
immaturity, or local distribution, or are really indi-
cative of specific distinctions. Future and more ex-
tended observations can alone determine these ques-
tions.

The length of this species is from nine to ten inches.
The bill, about half an inch long, is of a grey colour ;
the tip or horny part of the upper mandible mode-
rately arched, that of the lower suddenly contracted
where it forms the darker portion of the bill. The
forehead and crown is covered by a patch of rich
amaranth or rose-lilac colour, bordered round by a
narrow band of king's-yellow. The cheeks, occiput,
and sides of the neck, are of a delicate greenish-grey,
the chin and throat of a pale gamboge-yellow. The
feathers upon the lower part of the fore-neck and
breast, are of a peculiar form, their colour a deli-
cate pale-green, tipt with cinereous or ash-grey,

PURPLE-CROWNED TUHTELINE. 105

having, as it were, a piece cut out from the tip of
each in the form of a V. Beyond the
breast is a band of pale green, succeeded
by a small spot of rose-lilac in the
middle of the belly, which passes into a
rich orange, that again by degrees fades
into a pure yellow, which occupies the
vent or lower part of the abdomen. The flanks and
sides are pale-green ; the under tail-coverts rich orange.
The upper plumage is of a rich and glossy parrot-
green ; the scapulars with their central part of a deep
purple or blue, according to the light in which they
are viewed : the wing-coverts and secondaries are
margined with yellow. Greater quills, with their
anterior webs, black, glossed with green, the base of
the exterior webs green, finely margined with pale
yellow ; first quill, with the tip, for nearly an inch in
length, is suddenly narrowed, in the form represented
in the wood cut. Tail of fourteen feathers, even at
the end ; the exterior webs green, the inner blackish-
green. The tips of all, except the two central fea-
thers, which are wholly green, with a broad band of
rich yellow. The tarsi are covered nearly to the di-
vision of the toes, with soft thick-set yellowish -green
feathers. The soles of the feet are broad and flat ;
the claws hooked and strong, the exterior toe longer
than the inner.

This species, as the structure of the feet so evi-
dently implies, is the constant inhabitant of wooded
districts, where it subsists upon various fruits and

106 PURPLE-CROWNED TURTELINE.

berries, among which are enumerated those of the
Limonia bifoliata and Banana. Its voice or cooing
notes aie said to be pleasing in tone, and it is pro-
bably from their sound that it has obtained in Tonga-
taboo, the name of Kurukuru. In Otaheite it is
called Oopa or Oopuro.

Our next plate represents a second species of this
genus, an inhabitant of the evergreen forests of the
Celebes ; it is the

107

BLUE-CAPPED, TURTELINE.

Ptilinopus monachus. — SWAINSON.
PLATE IV.

Columba monacha, Reinwardt Temm. PL Col. 253 — Wag,

Syst. Av. sp. 35.

THIS beautiful little species, which belongs to the
same group as the P. purpuratus, is a native of
the Celebes, and was first discovered by M. Rein-
wardt, and afterwards figured by M. Temminck in
his splendid work, the " Planches Coloriees." In
size it is inferior to the above mentioned bird, as its
utmost length does not exceed seven inches. Of its
habits we have no detailed account, the description
given by Temminck being confined to the colours
and disposition of its plumage, which in a great de-
gree is analogous to that of the other species. The
forehead, the crown, the corners of the mouth, and
a large patch upon the central part of the abdomen,
are of a brilliant Berlin blue. Over the eyes, and
encircling the occiput, is a band of king's-yellow,
and the same colour prevails upon the chin and
throat, vent, and under-tail coverts. The rest of

108 BLUE-CAPPED TURTELINE.

the plumage is of a fine grass or parrot green ; the
secondary quills are edged with yellow. The tail
has the interior webs of the feathers grey, the lateral
feathers, when spread, exhibiting a deep bluish -green
spot or bar even to their tips. The bill is blackish,
grey. The tarsi are plumed nearly to the division
of the toes, which are crimson-red.

The next plate, a nearly allied species ; it is the

TV 1

109

BLUE AND GREEN TURTELINE

Ptilinopus cyano-virens — LESSON.
PLATE V.

Columba cyano-virens, Lesson, Vog. de la Coquille, pi. 42,
M. and F Id. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 169.

THIS species, which vies in beauty of plumage
with the preceding, is a native of New Guinea, where
it dwells in the evergreen forests of these equatorial
regions, and where, from the frequent low cooings
which were heard hy the crew of the Coquille,
when on a voyage of discovery to these parts, it ap-
pears to be very abundant. Its total length barely
exceeds eight inches. The bill is slender, the basal
part black, the tip or horn of a light grey. The
sides are reddish-brown. The tarsi are short and fea-
thered nearly to the toes, which are of a rich orange
yellow, and their structure similar to those of the
P. purpuratus. The upper part of the body, wings,
tail, lower breast, and sides, are bright grass green.
Upon the occiput is a large spot or bar of indigo
blue, which colour also occupies the shaft or central
part of the scapulars, and some of the lesser wing-

110 BLUE OR GREEN TURTELINE.

coverts. The chin is greyish -white, passing into
greenish-grey towards the breast. The lower part
of the abdomen and the costal band, are white, the
feathers margined with pale yellow ; the thighs and
tarsal feathers are green ; the vent is white, arid
the under tail coverts are yellowish- white, with
the greater part of the inner webs green. The
greater quills are brownish-black, with a narrow
edging of pale yellow, and the wing-coverts and se-
condaries are also margined with yellow. The fe-
male is devoid of the blue spot upon the occiput, as
well as those which ornament the scapular feathers
of the male. The forehead and chin are grey, and
the abdomen and vent clothed with feathers of a
uniform pale-green. In other respects her plumage
is analogous to that of the male.

In the description of this bird by M. Lesson, it is
to be regretted that no notice is taken of the form
of the first quill-feather, its emargination being an
essential character of the group. This we the more
lament, as no opportunity of examining a specimen
has occurred. We are therefore unable to state posi-
tively, whether it agrees in this particular with the
last described kind ; but, judging from analogy, and
its close resemblance to that species in other respects,
we entertain little or no doubt of its presence in
nearly a similar form, particularly as it is found de-
veloped in other species apparently further removed
from Ptilinopus purpuratus, one of which, the Ptili-
nopusporphyrea, is figured in the Planches Coloriees

BLUE OR GREEN TURTEL1NE. 1 1 1

of M. Temminck. Omissions of this kind shew the
necessity of great accuracy in the description of new
species, as it is upon characters in such essential
members as the wings, feet, bill, &c. that their situa-
tion in regard to other species or groups must be de-
termined.

We now pass on to the larger species of Mr Swain-
son's group, to which we have given the name of —

112

GENUS CARPOPHAGA,— SELBY.

IN this group, 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 en-
tirely feathered ; and their nostrils are placed nearer
to the base of the bill. In some species, green, yel-
low, and purple, are the prevailing colours ; in others
a rich bronzed or metallic colour composes the upper
plumage, exhibiting shades of deep green and pur-
ple, 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 uni-
form 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 fea-
thers 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 du-
ring the season of propagation. This is supposed to
be common to both sexes, as the female is described
with it in Duperry's Voyage. After this epoch it

CARPOPHAGA. 113

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 fa-
vourite repast to some species, and upon this luxu-
rious dk-t they become so loaded with fat, as fre-
quently when shot to burst asunder when they fall
to the ground. And here we may remark on the
remarkable provision Nature has made for the pro-
pagation as well as the dissemination of this valuable
spice, for the nutmeg itself, which is generally swal-
lowed with the whole of its pulpy covering, passes un-
injured 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 repeat-
ed experiments, it appears that an artificial prepara-
tion, analogous to that which it undergoes in its pas-
sage through the bird, is necessary to ensure the
growth and fertility of the nut ; and it was not till
after many and unsuccessful attempts had been made
that a lixivium of lime, in which the nuts were steep-
ed for a certain time, was found to have the wished-
for effect, arid to induce the germinating tendency.

VOL. IX. H

114 CARPOPHAGA.

The fruit of the Banyan (Ficus religiosusj, the
Sacred Tree of the Hindoos, is also a favourite re-
past of all the pigeons of this group, as well as of the
stronger-billed Vinago.

The subject of our next plate represents one of
the most beautiful of its kind : It is the

115

MAGNIFICENT FRUIT-PIGEON,

Carpophaga magnified.
PLATE VI.

Columba magnifica, Temm. in Trans. Linn Soc. vol. xiii.
p. 124.— Id, PL Col. pi. 163.

THE rich assemblage of colours exhibited in this
bird induced M. Temminck, its first describer, to
give it the appropriate name of Magnificent. It is
a native of the eastern parts of Australia, a coun-
try whose productions present so much of what is
new and interesting in every department of zoology.
It is said to feed chiefly upon the fruit of one of the
Palms, in that country called the Cabbage Tree, from
the culinary use made of the top or embryo leaves.
In form and character it agrees with the Carpophaga
cenea, or Nutmeg Pigeon, and also with the Carpo-
phaga oceanica, the subject of our next plate. In
size it equals, or rather surpasses, the Common Ring
Pigeon, the tail being longer in proportion. The
bill, which is rather slender, has the soft or mem-
branous part of a brownish-orange ; the horny tip,
which is yellowish-white, is slightly arched, but hard
and compressed ; the nostrils are open, and their co-
vering but little swollen, and not projecting to the
same extent as in the Common Pigeon ; the fore-

116 MAGNIFICENT FRUIT-PIGEON.

head, as in other members of this restricted genus,
is low and flat, and the feathers of the antise cover
a considerable portion of the soft part of the bill.
The head, the cheeks, and the upper part of the
neck, are of a fine pale bluish-grey, which passes in-
to pale green towards the lov/er part of the neck and
back. The upper parts of the body are of a rich
golden-green, assuming various shades of intensity
as viewed in different lights, — the wing- coverts are
spotted with rich king's-yellow, forming an oblique
bar across the wings. The quills and tail are of the
richest shining green, changing in effect with every
motion of the bird. From the chin downwards pro-
ceeds a streak of the finest auricula purple (the base
of the feathers being of a deep sapphire green) : this
line gradually expands as it descends and covers the
whole breast and abdomen. The lower belly, thighs,
and under wing- coverts, are of the richest king's-
yellow. The feet are bluish-black, the tarsi short
and clothed with yellow feathers half way down their
front and sides, the claws strong, much hooked, and
formed for prehension. Nearly allied to this species,
if not a small variety of it, is the Columba amarantha
of Lesson, which inhabits the Islands of New Ireland
and New Guinea.

Our next plate represents another species belong-
ing to this group, from a specimen in the possession
of Mr Gould : It is the

C AR P 0 P If ~A GA 0 C E AN I f A .

1 Oce»
Native of the Caroline Islands.

117

OCEANIC FRUIT-PIGEON.

Carpophaga oceanica.

PLATE VII.

Columba oceanica, Lesson, Voyage de la Coguille, pi. 41.—
Id. Man. (TOrnith. v. ii. p. 166.

THE metallic splendour of the dorsal plumage of
this beautiful bird, is only equalled by that of another
species, viz. the Nutmeg Pigeon, or Columba cenea
of Latham, to which it bears a marked resemblance,
and that not confined to a similar effect or play of
colour, but to a peculiarity of form observable in the
bills of both species. This consists of an excrescence
or globular knob, which has its origin upon the basal
part of the upper mandible, and which in the present
species attains the size of a small cherry, but in the
aenea is not so large, and scarcely so globular in shape.
From the observations that have been made upon
these birds, it appears that this excrescence, common
'to many of the group, is not a permanent feature,
but, like that which we see in the sheldrake, is only
developed during the season of reproduction, the
base of the bill at other times scarcely exhibiting any
indication of the swelling.* The great similarity in

* As bearing more particularly upon this subject, we quote
the following passage from Du Puy's Voyage de la Coquille,

118 OCEANIC FRUIT-PIGEON.

the appearance of these two birds, might naturally
create a suspicion that they were merely varieties of
one species ; but the observations of naturalists, and
particularly of M. Lesson, prove that they are quite
distinct ; for, in addition to a constant and unvary-
ing difference in certain parts of the plumage, and in
the form of the frontal knob, they possess a different
geographical distribution, the Carpophaga cenea, or
Nutmeg Pigeon, being a native of continental India,
the Moluccas, and New Guinea, the Carpophaga
oceanica an inhabitant of the Caroline and other
islands of the Pacific. The oceanica is also inferior
in size, being nearly a third less than the cenea, the
latter measuring nearly eighteen inches in length, the
former not more than fourteen. It belongs to the
same group as the subject of the preceding plate,
possessing a similar form in the characteristic mem-
bers of the bill, wings, and feet. Its food in the Isle
of Onalan, where it was met with in great numbers
by the Coquille, in her voyage of discovery, consist-
ed of a berry, not named, but which abounded in all
the wooded districts of that island.

where, speaking of the pigeons, it says, " Nous citerons des
belles colombes Muscadivores,dont plusieurs e'taient privees
de la caroncle noire et arrondie que presentaient le plus
grand-nombre des especes. Get organe entierement grais-
seauz, ne doit-s'elever sur le base de la mandibule superieure
qu'a 1'epoque que se distend pour recevoir ce fluide, resultat
d'une vie en exces, doit apres la fecondation, se dissiper, se
recouvrir, et ne plus paraitre au dessus des narines quo
comme une legere fron9ure cutande."

OCEANIC FRUIT-PIGEON. 119

The following is a description of this species, as
given by M. Lesson, in his Manuel d'Ornithologie.
Total length, fourteen inches. Bill one inch, sur-
rounded at its base with a rounded black carruncle
or knob. Feet strong, and of a vivid orange colour,
the tarsi feathered nearly to the toes, which have
their lateral membranes much distended. Wings
pointed, and about an inch shorter than the tail.
The forehead, cheeks, and throat, are of a greyish-
white. The lower and back part of the neck deep
bluish-grey. The back, wings, rump, and tail, of a
uniform metallic deep green, the breast and upper
part of the abdomen of a pale purplish-grey, the
lower belly, vent, and thighs, of a deep reddish-
browi.

Besides the species already mentioned, the Car-
poph&a hyogastra, Carpophagapinon, Carpophaga
luctuGa, and many others belong, to this beautiful
group,

Bef re we proceed to the Pigeons, we must here
introduce an interesting form, apparently belonging
to this division of the Columbidse, the structure of
the bfj being intermediate between that of Vinago
and 0)lumba, and the feet formed upon the same
plan a those of the rest of the Ptilinopinae : It is the

120

PHEASANT-TAILED PIGEON.

Columba phasianella. — TEMM.
PLATE VIII.

Columba phasianella, Temm. PI. Col. t. 100.— Id. in Trans,
of Linn. Soc. v. 13, p. 129 — Columba Amboinensis,^wctf.
Juv.

THE group or genus to which this species bdongs
is distributed throughout the Isles of Sonda, the Mo-
luccas, the Philippines, and Java, and is also me with
in Australia ; and, besides the present species con-
tains the Col. macroura of authors, the Col. nichali
of Wagler, and the Col. Reinwartii of Temninck.
Of its precise station in the circle of the (olum-
bidse, we speak with some degree of dou)1, not
having had an opportunity of instituting so sttct au
analysis of the species as the subject require, but
we believe it will be found to enter among thfPtili-
nopinae or Arboreal Pigeons, as the feet and trsi of
its members are similar in form to those of lat di-
vision, the latter being very short and partly lumed
below the joint, the former with the extern* toe
longer than the inner, and the binder toe fu^ deve-

PLATE

PHEASANT-TAILED PIGEON. 12 J

)oped ; 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 shewing these members to be expressly
adapted for perching and prehension, and not for gres-
sorial movements. The bill also in one species (C.
Reinwartii) approaches in point of strength near to
that of Vinagq, and in all of them the tip of both
mandibles is hard and firm, the upper one with a vi-
sible 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 ber-
ries 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 Columba migratoria of North
America. To this we cannot subscribe, seeing that its
essential characters, as above described, are different,
and 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.

In length it measures from fourteen to sixteen
inches, the tail itself being upwards of seven. The
wings are short, not reaching when closed above an
inch and a half beyond the root of the tail, rounded,
and having the third quill-feather the longest, and
the first and fourth equal to each other. The bill,

122 PHEASANT-TAILED PIGEON.

from the forehead, is nearly three quarters of an inch
long ; the tip of the upper mandible is moderately
arched, and having a distinct notch or emargination ;
that of the under angulated and strong. The throat is
yellowish- white. The head, the sides, and front of the
neck, as well as the whole of the under plumage is
orange-brown. The hinder part of the neck is of a
rich violet-purple, with brilliant golden reflections,
changing according to the play of light. The back,
the wing-coverts, and remainder of the upper plu-
mage, are of a deep reddish-brown , in some lights
exhibiting a bronzed gloss. The tail, which is gra-
duated or of a cuneiform shape, has the two middle
feathers of an uniform brown, the lateral are marked
with an oblique transverse bar or black. The feet
and naked part of the legs are reddish-brown. The
sole of the hind and inner toes is greatly expand-
ed, which gives a large and firm base of support
to the bird when moving amidst the branches of the
trees.

The young differ from the adults, in having the
neck of a dirty reddish-brown, fasciated with narrow
bars of black, the abdomen of a pale reddish-grey,
notched with very minute dark specks, the back in-
clines more to hair-brown, and the smaller wing-co-
verts are deeply edged with orange-brown.

It was first described by M. Temminck in the
Transactions of the Linnean Society, from a speci-
men brought from Australia, but has since been found
in most of the Philippine and Molucca islands, Java,

PHEASANT-TAILED PIGEON. 123

&c. It inhabits the woods, and its chief subsistence
consists of a species of pimento and other warm and
aromatic berries, all of which it swallows entire. Its
flesh, though dark in colour, is reported to be of ex-
cellent flavour.

124

GENUS COLUMBA.— AUCT.

PIGEON.

FROM the preceding division or sub-family of Ptili-
nopinae, we now enter upon that of the Columbinse,
embracing a vast variety of species, distributed
throughout every quarter of the globe, and of which
(as well as of the Columbidae collectively), our native
Pigeons may be taken as the typical representatives
This division, for the present, we retain under one
generic head, as it would be impossible, in a work
of this brief nature, to enter into the laborious in-
vestigation necessary to determine and point out
with precision the subordinate groups into which the
species may require to be divided. Taking, how-
ever, the Ring Pigeon,* the Wood Pigeon,| and the
Rock Pigeon, J as types of form, a great majority of
the species will be found to possess similar characters
and habits, and to arrange themselves with them ;
the remainder, which by gradual modification of
structure lead to other divisions of the family, and
support that circular succession of affinities, which
is shewn to pervade all nature, will then, when the

* Columba Palumbus. + Columba JEnas.

§ Columba livia.

PIGEON. 125

difference is carried to the greatest excess, become
the types of other genera or groups.

The Pigeons are characterized by a bill of mean
strength, the tip hard, bulging, and moderately arch-
ed, the nostrils partly covered and defended by a
large soft projecting membrane, the orbits more or
less naked. The feet formed for walking as well
as perching, the hind toe being of moderate length,
and the claws so shaped and disposed, as not to in-
terfere with their progress upon the ground ; the
outer and inner toes in the typical species are of the
same length. Their wings are fully developed and
rather acute, the second and third feathers being the
longest. The tail is generally square and of mean
length.

In those species which are the media of connexion
with other groups, the above characters become
partially modified, as we see exemplified in the
species nearest allied to the Ptilinopinae 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 prevailing colour of the Pigeons is bluish-
grey, of various intensities and shades, frequently em-
bellished upon the neck with feathers having a metal-
lic 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

1 26 PIGEON.

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 cerea-
lia, as also acorns, beech-mast, and other seeds, and
occasionally of the green and tender leaves of parti-
cular plants. Their flesh is sapid and nutritious,
being of a warm and invigorating nature. Their
flight is powerful, very rapid, and can be long sus-
tained, and many species are in the habit of making
distant periodical migrations. They are widely dis-
seminated, 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,
these 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 succeed-
ed by the proper feathers. For some time after
birth they are fed with a milky half-digested pulp,
disgorged into their mouth by their parents, whose
" craw, at this period, is furnished with certain
glands," to aid in reducing their food to this neces
sary consistency.

As nearly allied to the arboreal species already de-
scribed, and connecting them with the typical Pi-
geons, pur next plate represents the

Islands.

n:

)]

327

CHESTNUT-SHOULDERED PIGEON.

Columba spadicea. — LATH.
PLATE IX.

Columba spadicea, Lath. Ind. Ornith. Supp. p. 9, Sp. 7.—
Columba geant, Temm. Pig. et Gall ed. 8vo, p. 94.

IT is not without a question of doubt we place
this large and beautiful species in the present divi-
sion, 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 shews evi-
dent 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. It is a native of the Friendly and other
islands of the Pacific, and has been accurately de-
scribed by Latham and Temminck, so far as re-
gards its plumage ; of its peculiar habits and mode of
life, we have little information, a deficiency the more
to be regretted, as, from a minute and correct detail
of these, we should have been better able to judge
of its proper position in relation to other species,
Temminck makes mention of one peculiarity not no-

128 CHESTNUT-SHOULDERED PIGEON.

ticed by Latham, viz. the subfurcate form of the tail,
and the rigid consistency of the feathers composing
it, which he compares to those of the Plotus and the
Hornbills, but he makes no remark as to any probable
effect such a structure may have in the economy of
the bird. From the form and size of the feet, we
may judge that its habits are more those of an arbo-
real than terrestrial bird, though its claws want the
great curvature of those of the Ptilinopinse, and
shew the capability it has of occasionally resorting
to the ground in search of food.

In length the Chestnut-shouldered Pigeon mea-
sures from nineteen to twenty inches. The head,
foreneck, and breast, are of a deep green, with a
rich metallic lustre. The occiput and back part
of the neck are olive or greenish-brown, with a ru-
fous tinge ; the abdomen and vent are pure white.
The mantle, scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts, are
of a brownish-red, with rich metallic reflexions. The
greater quills are of a rich purplish-brown, exhibiting
green reflexions, according to the light in which they
are viewed. The tail is composed of twelve feathers,
of which the exterior on each side is a little longer
than the others, its colour a deep bistre brown, shew-
ing green and purple reflexions, the tip banded with
ochraceous yellow ; the under surface is of a pale-grey
colour, with a green metallic lustre. The bill and
feet are red.

Our next plate represents another remarkable spe-
cies ; it is the

129

DOUBLE-CRESTED PIGEON.

Columba dilopha. — TEMMINCK.
PLATE X.

Columba dilopha, Temm. in, Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 13, p. 124;
Id. pi Col pi. 162.— Waff. Syst. Av. Sp. 11.

IN this curious species, besides the occipital crest,
an ornament which is found in many other birds, there
is an additional one in front, composed of long re-
curved 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 this pigeon a character unlike any of its
congeners, and more resembling that of some of the
crested Phasianidsa or Cracidse, with which an analo-
gical relation is thus sustained. In other respects its
characters agree with those of C. spadicea, the pro-
portion of the wings and the form of the feet being
nearly the same. Temminck, who first described it,
observes, " Cette nouvelle espece a le plus de rap-
ports dans toutes ses formes, avec la Columba spadi-
cea, et toutes les deux sont tres peu differentes de
notre Ramier d'Europe." In the concluding obser-
vation, we cannot concur to the extent implied by

VOL. IX. I

130 DOUBLE-CRESTED PIGEON.

that eminent naturalist ; for, although an approach
from the Fruit-eating Pigeons or Carpophaga, to
the true Pigeons, is made by C. spadicea and dilopha,
still the form of their feet, evidently better adapted
for arboreal than terrene habits, and their general as-
pect, are such as to shew that some intermediate form
is wanting to bring them into that immediate con-
nexion with the group represented by the European
Ring Pigeon, which M. Temminck seems to inti-
mate.*

In size the Dilopha nearly equals the Chestnut-
shouldered Pigeon, some specimens measuring near-
ly eighteen inches in length. The wings are long
and powerful, reaching, when closed, beyond the
middle of the tail, the second, third, and fourth fea-
thers, are the longest, and nearly equal to each other,
the fifth is shorter than the first. The bill is. of a
rich orange colour, the tip of the under mandible
obliquely truncated, that of the upper compressed and
moderately arched, with a rounded culmen. The
frontal crest originates on the upper part of the bill,
immediately behind the horny tip, and above the
nostrils, and is composed of long arched feathers
pointing backwards, of a soft and loose texture, their
colour bluish-grey, tinged with rufous or reddish-
brown. The occipital crest is also decumbent or
falls backwards, and is likewise composed of long

* The Columba Trocaz of the Illustrations of Ornitho-
logy, appears to be one of these intermediate forms.

DOUBLE-CRESTED PIGEON. 131

soft feathers, with open or decomposed barbules,
each feather increasing in breadth towards the tip ;
its colour is a rich reddish-brown. On each side
from the posterior angle of the eye it is bounded by
a streak of glossy black. The cheeks and ear-coverts
are pale reddish-brown, the chin and throat pearl-
grey. The feathers of the side and fore-part of the
neck and breast are of a pale grey where exposed,
but black at the base, their form is trifid, each fea-
ther having a division or rather separation of the
vanes at a short distance from the tip, as represented

in the cut. Upon
the back part of
the neck, though
acuminated, they
are not distinctly
divided as upon
the breast. The
whole of the back, scapulars, and wing- coverts are of
a deep bluish-grey, each feather shewing a distinct
darker margin. The quills and secondaries are
bluish-black. The whole of the under plumage is
grey. The tail is square at the end, and nearly seven
inches long, the basal part and narrow band, pale
grey, tinged with reddish, the tip and intermediate
bar black. The naked part of the tarsi and the toes
are crimson-red, the hind toe strong, with a broad
flat sole, and longer than the tarsus. The nails are
long and moderately curved.

132 DOUBLE-CRESTED PIGEON.

This species is a native of the interior of New
Holland, and has also been found in Java, but of its
habits and manners we can give no detailed infor-
mation, as the notice of the species by its first des-
cribers has been confined to the limited detail of ita
dimensions and plumage.

133

RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT.

Columba palumbus — LINNAEUS.
(VIGNETTE TITLE-PAGE.)

Columba palumbus, Linn. i. 282. sp. 19 Lath. Ind. Ornith.

ii. 601. sp. 32 — Le Pigeon Ramier, Buff. Ois. ii. p. 531.
t. 24. Id. pi. enl. 316 — Temm. Pig. et Gal v. i. p. 78 —
Ring Pigeon, Br. Zool. No. 102 — Ring-Dove, Mont. Orn.
Diet S^lby^s Illus. Br. Ornith. i. 406. p. 56. fig. 1.

IN the title-page vignette of the present volume,
our readers will recognize an animated representation
of this indigenous species, taken from a beautiful draw-
ing by Mr Stewart. It is a bird widely disseminated
throughout Europe, either as a permanent resident,
or as a periodical visitant ; in the first state, in all
those countries where the climate and temperature
are such as to ensure a constant supply of food, and
in the latter, in those higher latitudes where the ri-
gour of winter is severely felt, and the ground for a
long period remains covered with snow. Of its geo-
graphical distribution in other quarters of the globe,
we can only speak with uncertainty, as it is evident,
that species, bearing a resemblance in form and co-
lour, have been mistaken for it, and as such record-

134 RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT.

ed in the relations of various travellers. Temminck
mentions it in his History of the Pigeons, as inha-
biting parts of northern Asia and Africa, and it is
known to be a native of Madeira, as well as another
nearly allied species, lately described in the " Illus-
trations of Ornithology?" under the title of the Co-
lumba Trocaz. In America it has not yet been re-
cognized, neither does it appear among the species
which abound within the tropical latitudes of the an-
cient world. In Britain it is distributed from one
extremity of the kingdom to the other, residing per-
manently with us ; for, though subject to a partial
movement upon the approach of winter, when the
various individuals scattered over the country collect
together, and form extensive flocks, no actual migra-
tion takes place, but these congregated masses still
keep within their respective districts. The magni-
tude of these winter flocks, has no doubt suggested
the idea, that a migration from distant climes to this
country annually takes place at this season of the
year, and that the numbers of our native stock are
thus augmented. We see no necessity, however, for
supposing this to be the case, nor is it authorised by
any observed or established fact. The species in
districts favourable to its increase appears to be suf-
ficiently numerous to account for the largest bodies
ever seen assembled together.

This congregating of the Ring Pigeons takes place
towards the end of October or beginning of Novem -
ber, at which time all the autumnal broods have be-

RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT. 135

c-ome fully fledged, and they remain thus united till
the beginning of February, when the first mild days
and the genial influence of the ascending sun again
call forth those instinctive feelings which urge them
to separate and pair, and each to seek an appropriate
retreat for the rearing of a future brood. At first
when thus congregated, they haunt the stubbles, or,
in districts producing an abundance of beech-mast
or acorns, the woods and trees ; but as these re-
sources become exhausted, they resort to the turnip
fields, the leaves and tops of which root they greedi-
ly devour. This food now constitutes their princi-
pal support during the winter and early spring months,
or until the clover begins to sprout, and the seed-corn
is committed to the earth, and it has been observed
that the increase of the species has been progressive
with that of the culture of this valuable root. The
numerous and extensive plantations that of late years
have been so generally made throughout the island,
arid which, in a young and close growing state, are
peculiarly favourable to its habits, must also be taken
into account, and perhaps these tend, in an equal de-
gree to the cause above assigned, to the rapid in-
crease of its numbers. When thus united, they re-
pair to their feeding- ground early in the morning, and
again in the afternoon before they retire to roost, the
middle of the day being passed in repose or digest-
ing their first meal, upon the nearest trees. When
thus perched, some are always upon the watch, and

136 RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT.

so great is their vigilance, that it is almost impossi-
ble, by any device, to get within gun-shot. In the
evening they retire to the woods to roost, preferring
those of the fir tribe and the ash to any other, and
in those nocturnal retreats great slaughter is some-
times committed, by waiting in concealment their
arrival, which regularly takes place immediately after
sunset.

As we have previously remarked, the first mild
weather in February produces an immediate effect
upon these congregated pigeons, and we may almost
calculate to a day when their cooing and plaintive
murmurs will again be heard in their wonted sum-
mer haunts. The flocks are now seen daily to de-
crease in magnitude, and in a short time every wood
and copse becomes peopled with the numerous pairs
of this lovely bird. The male soon after commences
a flight peculiar to the season of courtship and love,
this is a rising and falling in the air, by alternate
movements, in which flight, and when at the great-
est elevation, the upper surfaces of the wings are
brought so forcibly into contact, as to be heard at a
considerable distance. Nidification soon follows this
well-known signal, and by the end of April the young
in many instances are fully fledged, and ready to quit
the nest. Few, however, of the early brood, com-
paratively speaking, attain maturity, as the eggs at
this season, from the naked state of the woods, are
easily discovered by the prying eye and inquisitr. e

RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT. 137

habits of the cunning magpie and predacious carrion
crow.

The nest of the cushat is a flimsy fabric, being
a mere platform of small twigs loosely interwoven,
so open, indeed, that the eggs, in one newly built,
and before it becomes thickened by the droppings of
a previous brood, may be seen through it from be-
neath ; and so slight is the central depression, that it
frequently happens, where the incubating bird is sud-
denly disturbed, the eggs, in the hurry to escape, are
tumbled from the nest, and perish upon the ground.
The site selected for nidification is various, and no
tree or bush seems to come amiss at certain periods
of the year. In early spring, however, and before
the deciduous trees acquire their umbrageous and
leafy covering, firs, and other evergreens, are pre-
ferred, on account of the better concealment and pro-
tection they afford. From this diversity of site, the
nest is necessarily placed at various elevations, at
one time being far removed from the ground, as
when it is built near the summit of a lofty spruce,
or in the thick foliage of a beech or sycamore, at an-
other scarcely out of reach, and but a few feet from
the earth, as we find it in the holly, the young fir,
the thorn, or other bushy trees. The eggs, always
two in number, are white, of an oblong form, and
rounded nearly equally at both ends. Incubation
lasts from eighteen to twenty days, and both sexes
sit alternately, the male taking the place of his mate
when hunger compels her to quit the nest, and 80

138 RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT.

vice versa. When first excluded, the young are
blind, their skin of a blue or livid colour, thinly co-
vered with a harsh yellow down. In this tender
state, they are long and assiduously brooded over by
the parent birds, and are fed with a milky pulp, eject-
ed from the crop, where the food undergoes a par-
tial digestion, preparatory to its being given to them.
As they gain strength and become fledged, food is
more frequently supplied, and, consequently, from
its not remaining so long in the craw of the old bird,
in a less and less comminuted form, till at length,
previous to their finally quitting the nest, it is ad-
ministered in a state but little altered from that in
which it is first swallowed by the old birds.

The Ring Pigeon breeds twice in the year, viz.
in spring, and again in autumn, a cessation taking
place during the greater part of June and July, be-
ing a period of comparative scarcity, the seeds of
such plants as they principally subsist on not having
then ripened or attained perfection. The autumnal
brood, on account of the more effectual concealment
of the nests by the now matured and thick foliage
of the woods, is always more abundant than that of
spring, and, in favourable districts, great numbers an-
nually escape. In certain seasons, the young pro-
duced in autumn are subject to a peculiar disease.,
which destroys many of them even after they have
quitted the nest. It appears in the form of large swel-
lings or impostumes, upon the feet and head, which,
rapidly increasing, at length deprives them of sight

RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT. 139

and the power of perching, and they perish upon the
ground, emaciated by hunger and disease. This
complaint, for many years past, has been observed
in the northern districts of the kingdom,, but whether
it prevails to an equal extent in other parts, we have
had no opportunity of ascertaining, The flesh of
both young and old is of good flavour, that of the
latter being little inferior to the moor-game or grous,
which it is thought by many to resemble in taste.
This, however, can only be said of it, so long as the
bird derives its support from the stubbles, or the
produce of the forest ; for as soon as a deficiency of
other food compels it to resort to the turnip field,
the flesh becomes imbued so thoroughly with the
strong flavour of the plant, as no longer to be fit for
the table. Though the Ring Pigeon frequently ap*
proaches our habitations during the breeding season
in search of a site for its nest, and almost seems to
court the vicinity of man, it always evinces a timo-
rous disposition, and is startled and alarmed by the
slightest motion or noise. In the winter, and when
congregated, it becomes still more impatient of ap-
proach, and is then one of the most wary and watch-
ful of the feathered race.

Various attempts have been made to domesticate
the Ring Pigeon, but hitherto without success,* for,

* We have lately been informed that a pair of Ring Pi-
geons, in one of the aviaries of the Zoological Gardens, this
last year built their nest in a tree or shrub contained with-
in it, and that the female laid two eggs, which unfortunate-

140 RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT.

although they may be rendered very tame when in
confinement, they shew no disposition to breed even
by themselves, much less with the common pigeon,
and upon being set at liberty, soon lose any little
attachment they may have shewn to the place in
which they were reared, and betake themselves to
their natural haunts to return no more.

Taking the species as a typical example of the re-
stricted genus Columba, we find the bill of moderate
strength, the tip without emargination and gently
arched, the nostrils protected by a soft inflated mem-
brane ; the wings calculated for vigorous flight, the
second and third quills being the longest, and near-
ly equal ; the tail is square or even at the end ;
the tarsi short, and the feet adapted either for
perching or walking ; the outer and inner toes are
of equal length, the hinder rather shorter than the
tarsus, and not provided with so broad or flat a sole, as
that of the true arboreal pigeons. In size it is superior
to the majority of the Columbidse, measuring from
sixteen to seventeen inches in length. The horny
part of the bill is orange-yellow, the basal or soft
part impending the nostrils, covered with a white
mealy substance. The head, cheeks, throat, neck,
lower back and rump, are bluish-grey, those of the
side of the neck glossed with green, and bounded

ly were destroyed by some accident during incubation.
This fact shews, that, under favourable circumstances, and
when the habits of the bird are attended to, a progeny may
be obtained.

RING PIGEON, OR CUSHAT. 141

by a patch of white, which nearly meets behind, and
forms an imperfect demicollar round the lower and
back part of the neck. The mantle, scapulars, and
wing-coverts are deep bluish-grey. The breast and
belly purplish-red, passing towards the vent and
under tail-coverts into pale bluish-grey. The outer
ridge of the wing and a few of the greater coverts
are white. The quills are blackish -giey, their in-
terior webs conspicuously margined with white.
The upper surface of the tail is of a bluish-grey at
the base, passing gradually into black towards the
tip. The legs and feet are purplish-red. The
irides yellowish-white.

Our next plate represents the

142

WOOD PIGEON

Columba tenets — LINN.
PLATE XI.

Columba cenas, Linn. Syst. 1. 279. 1. B — Lath. Ind. Orn.

2. 589. sp. 1 Briss. Orn. v. 1. sp. 6 — Colombe colombin.

Temm. Pig. et Gal. 1. 118 Id. Man. d'Ornith. 2. p. 445.

—Stock Dove, Illus. Br. Orn. 2. 408. pi. 56. f. 1.

OF inferior size, but nearly allied in habits and
manners, we now present our readers with the figure
of a species, which, till of late years, by most of our
writers, was confounded with the rock pigeon, the
original stock of our common pigeon, or at least had
its history so mixed up with the descriptions of that
bird, as to render its individuality and specific dis-
tinction a matter of considerable doubt. Brisson
appears to have been the first who accurately point-
ed out the distinctions between the two, and he has
since been followed by Temminck, who, in his ge-
neral history of the pigeons, and his excellent and
useful Manual of Ornithology, has so clearly mark-
ed its distinctive characters, and described its habits,
as to render it almost impossible even for a very tyro
to confound or mistake the one with the other.

Like the previously described species, it is indi«

PLATE 11.

COLUMBA CENAS.

(Woo 1 Pig-eon)
Native of Europe.

•WOOD PIGEON. 143

genous, but its distribution is much more limited in
extent, being confined to the southern and midland
counties of England, and to such districts only as
are well clothed with wood ; for, possessing arboreal
habits, it is never found inhabiting those localities
affected by the Columba livia (rock pigeon), such
as the caverns of rocks, ruinous edifices, &c. Du-
ring the spring and summer, it is distributed in pairs
throughout the woods, where it breeds, sometimes in
the decayed hollows of the ivy-mantled trunks, at
others on the forks or amidst the higher branches of
the trees. The nest is similar to that of the ring
pigeon, and its two white eggs, though inferior in
size, present the same oblong form. Two broods
are annually produced, the first in spring, the se-
cond after midsummer, a period of rest or recruiting
of the vital forces taking place between the end of
May and the middle of July. As autumn advances,
the various broods begin to congregate, and soon form
flocks of great magnitude, which continue assembled
during the winter, and are sometimes seen com-
mingled with bodies of their larger congener the
cushat. In parts of France, Germany, and the
northern kingdoms of Europe, it is a migratory spe-
cies, and a summer or polar visitant, the late au-
tumnal arid winter months being passed in warmer
latitudes, where a due supply of food can then be
found. In disposition it shews a timidity and watch-
fulness equal to that of any other species, particular-
ly during the winter months, when associated in

144 WOOD PIGEON.

troops. Its food consists of grain of all kinds, pulse,
acorns, boechmast, &c., and like the cushat, when
pressed by hunger, it frequently resorts to the tur-
nip fields to devour the tender leaves and tops of
that plant. Its flesh by Temminck is said to be of
exquisite flavour, and far superior to that of the ring
pigeon, but this perhaps may only be at certain pe-
riods, and when feeding upon some peculiar food.

Near as it approaches the common pigeon in size
and form, no mixed breed that we are aware of has
ever been obtained between them, although repeated
attempts to effect an intercourse have been made.
This in our mind appears a strong and convincing
proof, that all the varieties, generally known by the
name of Fancy Pigeons, have originated from one
and the same stock, and not from crosses with other
species, as 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.

In length the Wood Pigeon measures about four-
teen inches, and in extent of wing nearly twenty-six.
The head, cheeks, and throat, are pale bluish-grey.
The feathers upon the sides and back part of the
neck imbricated, of a fine green, changing into pur-
ple, or bronzed green in different lights. The lower
part of the foreneck and breast are pale vinous, or
purplish grey, passing into pale grey, which colour
obtains over all the lower parts of the body. The
mantle and scapulars are grey, with a brownish

WOOD PIGEON. 145

tinge, the lesser wing-coverts, the lower part of the
exterior webs of the secondary quills, lower back and
rump, are pale bluish-grey. Upon the two second-
ary quills nearest the body, and upon some of the
greater coverts, a spot of black confined to the exte-
rior webs, but not forming any defined bar, as in the
Rock Pigeon. Tips of the secondary and the greater
quills greyish-black. The tail is grey at the base,
with a fainter bar immediately adjoining the black
tip. The exterior feather on each side, with the
basal part of its exterior web, white. Under surface
with the bar more distinctly defined. Wings when
closed reaching within an inch of the end of the tail.
The horny part of the bill is pale orange, the legs
and toes red, the claws brownish- black, strong, and
moderately arched, the hinder part of the tarsi, as in
the Ring Pigeon, are covered with very small scales.
The tarsi longer than the middle toe.
Our next plate represents the

YOL. IX. K

146

BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON.

Columba livia. — LATH.
PLATE XII.

Columba livia, Lath. Ind. Orn. v. 2. 390. sp. 2. v. B.— Briss.
Orn. 82. sp. 3. — Colombe Biset, Sauvage, Temm. Pig.

8vo. edit. ] . p. 125 Id. Man. tfOrnith. 2. 446 Biset

and White-Rumped Pigeon, Lath. Ind. 4. 605. 2. A —

Rock-Dove, Mont. Orn. Diet — Id. Sup Selby's Illus.

Br. Orn. 2. 410. pi. 56. f. 2 — The Common Pigeon or
Wild Dove, Low^s Faun. Oread, p. 52.

ROCKY and precipitous cliffs, particularly those of
the sea-coast perforated by caverns, either originat-
ing in the nature of the rock itself, or worn and hol-
lowed out by the action of the waves, are the appro-
priate retreats of the pigeon in its wild or natural
state. In this condition it possesses a very exten-
sive geographical distribution throughout the mari-
time districts of the world, being abundant in most
of the Rocky Islands belonging to Africa and Asia,
and in those of the Mediterranean, where it swarms
in incredible numbers. Upon our own coasts it is
found wherever the nature of the barrier suits its
habits, extending as far as the Orkneys, where Low
describes it as the inhabitant of all their numerous

PLATE 12.

BISET OR WILD ROCK- PIGEON. 147

and extensive caves, retiring to their inmost recesses,
and generally beyond the situations selected for ni-
dification by the auks, gulls, and other aquatic fowl.
It is also met with upon the northern and western
coasts of Sutherland, the perforated and cavernous
rocks which gird the eastern side of Loch Eriboll,
and those of the limestone district of Durness, fur-
nishing suitable places of retreat, and again upon the
eastern coast of Scotland, it is seen about the rocky
Bteeps of the Isle of Bass, and the bold promontory
of St Abb's Head.

The supposition of many of our ornithologists
that this and the preceding species were identical,
has led to considerable confusion in their writings,
and produced a mixed sort of description strictly ap-
plicable to neither. The distinctions, however, be-
tween the species, even in regard to plumage, are
such, that, if attended to, no mistake can well arise,
and if accompanied by a corresponding attention to
their respective habits, the difference becomes still
more apparent and convincing. In one we have a
bird the frequenter and inhabitant of the woods,
where it roosts, breeds, and perches with security
and ease upon the trees, like the ring pigeon and
other arboreal species ; in the other, an inhabitant of
caves and the holes of rocks, and which is never
known, under any circumstance, to affect the forest
or perch upon a tree.

But the rock or wild pigeon is better known to
our readers as the inhabitant of the pigeon-house,

1 48 BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON.

or, as it is frequently called, the dove-cot, buildings
erected expressly for the purpose of containing colo-
nies of these birds. In this state, where they enjoy
a perfect freedom of action, and are nearly depend-
ant upon their own exertions for support, they can
scarcely be called reclaimed, much less domesticated.
Man, indeed, has only taken advantage of certain
habits natural to the species, and by the substitution
of an artificial for a real cavern, to which the pigeon-
house may be compared, has, without violating or at
least greatly infringing upon its natural condition,
brought it into a kind of voluntary subjection, and
rendered it subservient to his benefit and use. Vast
numbers of young pigeons in various parts of the
world are by this system annually produced and
rendered available as a wholesome and nutritious
food, as well as a source of considerable profit to the
proprietors of these edifices.

Various practical treatises upon the management
of the dove-cot, and other details connected with
it, are already before the public, and to them we
must refer our readers for further information, as the
limited nature of the present work will not admit of
such copious extracts as would be necessary to em-
brace all the respective details. It may not, how-
ever, be out of place to advert to a few of the prin-
cipal objects to be considered, by those who contem-
plate the erection of a pigeon-house ; and first in re-
gard to the form of the building. The most ap-
proved is that of a circular tower, as it affords ad-

BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON. 149

vantages not possessed by the square, giving an
easier access to the breeding birds to their nests,
and a greater facility of taking the young, and in-
specting and clearing out the holes, by means of a
ladder turning upon an axis. Around the interior
of the tower, about three or four feet from the bot-
tom, a horizontal ledge of eight or ten inches in
width ought to project, in order to prevent rats,
weasels, and other vermin, destructive to the eggs
and young, from scaling the walls and entering the
pigeon-holes, and if this ledge be covered on its un-
der surface with tin or sheet-iron, it will the more
effectually prevent the entrance of such intruders.
A second ledge of less width, and about midway up
in a pigeon -house of considerable height, may also
be of advantage, not only for additional security
against enemies, but as a resting-place for the pigeons
when they enter the house. The holes or nests are
best built in quincunx order, and not directly over
one another, and they ought to be sufficiently large
to allow the old birds to move in them with freedom,
and to stand upright, in which position they always
feed their young.

Frequent attention to the state of the holes is ne-
cessary, and they ought regularly to be inspected
and cleansed after each great flight, that is, towards
the end of May, and again before winter. The
dung accumulated at the bottom of the house should
also be removed every three or four months, as the
eftiuvium which arises from it when in a large mass,

150 BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON.

arid in a state of fermentation, is injurious to the
health of the birds, and also prevents them making
use of the lower tiers of nest-holes. In point of si-
tuation, a gentle acclivity, exposed to the south, and
open to the rays of the sun, in which the pigeon de-
lights to bask and repose, is the most favourable.
It ought not to be too far removed from a plentiful
supply of water, as the pigeon is a great and frequent
drinker ; neither too closely surrounded by trees, as,
when near, they interfere with the free egress and
ingress of the birds, and are supposed to be disagree-
able to them, from the noise they make in winds
and storms. The pigeon being a bird of a timid na-
ture, and easily alarmed, the house should stand at
such a distance from all the other offices, as not to
be incommoded by any noise or movements about
them. From a pigeon-house of tolerable dimensions,
a produce of many dozens of young may annually be
procured, and that for nearly eight months out of
the twelve, as they are in full breeding from March
till the end of May, and again from August till the
close of November ; and all that is required to keep
up the breeding stock, is to permit a limited portion
of the latter hatchings to escape.

In its natural state, the plumage of the pigeon is
as follows : — Bill blackish-brown ; the nostril mem-
brane red, sprinkled, as it were, with a white powder.
The hides pale reddish-orange. The head and throat
are bluish-gray. The sides of the neck and upper
part of the breast are dark la vender- purple, glossed

BISET OB WILD ROCK- PIGEON. 151

with shades of green and purplish-red. The lower
part of the breast and ahdomen are bluish-gray. The
upper mandible and wing-coverts are blue-gray.
The greater coverts and secondaries are barred with
black, and form two broad and distinct bars across
the closed wings. The lower part of the back is
white ; the rump and tail-coverts bluish-gray. The
tail is of a deep gray, with a broad black bar at tho
end. The legs and feet are pale purplish-red.
When closed, the wings reach within half an inch of
the end of the tail.

It is under this species that we include not only
the common pigeon, or inhabitant of the dove-cot,
but all those numerous varieties, or, as they are fre-
quently termed, races of domesticated pigeons, so
highly prized, and fostered with such care and at-
tention by the amateur breeder or pigeon fancier ;
for, however diversified their forms, colour, or pecu-
liarity of habit may be, we consider them all as hav-
ing 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 varie-
ties 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 oc-
curred, by subjecting these to captivity and domes-
tication, and by assorting and pairing them together,
as fancy or caprice suggested, ho has at intervals ge-

152 BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON.

nerated 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 usual-
ly 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
Generale 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 of those universal laws of
nature, extending even to plants, and one which, if
once set aside or not enforced, would plunge all ani-
mated matter into indescribable confusion, that the
offspring produced by the intercourse of different,
that is, distinct species, is incapable of further in-
crease. That such an intercourse may be effected,
is well known to all ; but it is generally under pe-
culiar or artificial circumstances, and rarely when the
animals, birds, or whatever they may be, are in their
natural state, and in a condition to make their own
election. It is seen in the crosses obtained, in a
state of confinement, between the canary and gold-
finch, linnet, &c. ; in the hybrids produced between
different species of the Anatidae when domesticated,

BISET OR WILD ROCK- PIGEON. 153

or kept in captivity ; in the cross between the phea-
sant and common fowl, &c. But in all these in-
stances, the progeny are invariably mules, and inca-
pable of further production ; for although they may
exhibit the passions natural to the sexes, and the fe-
male may even produce eggs, these, with every care,
are always found addled, and incapable of being
hatched. Such, we may add, is the case with hy-
brids of some of the crosses themselves ; for the
bastard produce of the common wild turtle (Turtur
communis) with the turtle of the aviary (Turtur ri-
soria), has been proved, by frequent experiment, to
be barren *, although the two species from whence
it originates appear to be closely allied, and a mixed
breed is easily procured ; and such, we have no he-
sitation in saying, would be the event, if a cross
could be obtained between the common pigeon and
the ring-pigeon, the wood-pigeon, or any other
species.

* In the history of the " Pigeons de Voliere," by MM.
Boitard and Corbie*, under the head of the "Turterelle des
Bois," these authors mention the fact of the cross-breed
between it and the Tourterelle a collier, and the sterility of
the offspring. " Le me'tis," they add, " s'accouplent entre
eux, ou avec des individus a collier ou des bois: ils se
caressent avec la meme ardeur, pondent et couvent leur
oeufs avec la meme solicitude, et cependant ces ceufs
n'£clorent jamais, sans doute faute de germe. Cette ex-
p£rience faite par Mauduyt, par Vieillot, et avec une es-
pece d'obstination par mon collaborates M. Corbie', a tou-
jours eu le meme resultat."

154 BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON.

To describe or particularize all the varieties cul-
tivated by pigeon fanciers, would require a volume
of itself; as, in addition to the permanent races, or
those which, when kept pure, transmit their likeness
to their offspring, there are intermediate forms, pro-
duced by particular crosses between individuals be-
longing to the different varieties, which, though high-
ly prized in the first generation, are not considered
worthy of further cultivation, as their produce can-
not be depended upon, but is found to degenerate,
and liable to run into still more distant and less
valued varieties. We must therefore confine our
remarks to a few observations upon the mode of
treatment, and the means adopted to perpetuate and
keep pure such races or varieties as are held in the
highest estimation by the amateur, and then present
our readers with the figures and description of three
or four of the most remarkable deviations from the
original type of the species.

Domestic or fancy pigeons are generally kept con-
fined in aviaries, or lodged in appropriate buildings
attached to or near the house of the breeder, in or-
der that they may be regularly and easily fed, cleans-
ed, and duly attended to in all matters having refer-
ence to their condition and health ; for their natural
instinct and their feeling of liberty have been so
nearly effaced, or placed in abeyance by the capti-
vity to which they have been subjected for so many
generations, that they have become nearly depend-

BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON. 155

ent upon man for support, and have lost the power
or capability, even when allowed to fly at large, of
looking for and finding their own food, insomuch
that, if left to themselves, they would in all likelihood
perish from hunger and want. In these buildings,
it is usual to erect a certain number of boxes or di-
visions against the walls or sides, each calculated to
accommodate a pair of pigeons, with their nest and
young. They are best when separated and distinct
from each other, with a small platform, and an en-
trance just large enough to admit the bird ; as, when
disposed in a continuous row, and open in front, the
birds are apt to interfere with each other, and, by
their jealousies and contentions, to prevent the due
increase of eggs and young. To ensure the purity
of any particular kind, the young males, as soon as
they shew symptoms of maturity, which is known
by particular gesticulations and their cooing-notes,
are placed apart in a chamber constructed for the
purpose, with a female of the same variety. Here
they remain till a mutual attachment has taken place,
after which they may be returned to the general
aviary or dove-house ; for, when once an alliance is
effected, it generally continues uridissolved and in-
violate till the death or removal of one of the parties ;
on which account many different varieties may be
kept in the same aviary, or associated together in
one building, without much apprehension of having
a contaminated breed.

156 BISET OR WILD ROCK-PIGEON.

Among the numerous varieties cultivated by tho
pigeon fancier, the following list embraces such as
are held in particular estimation, viz. the Roman,
Rough- footed, Crested, Norway, Barbary, Jacobine,
Laced, Turbit, Broad-tailed and Narrow- tailed Shaker,
Tumbler, Helmet, Turkish or Persian, Carrier, Horse-
man, Pouter, Smiter, Turner, and Spot pigeons.
The first variety we present to our readers is the

157

BROAD OR FAN-TAILED SHAKER.

Columba var. tremula latecauda WILL.

PLATE XIII.

Pigeon paon, Buff. PI. Enl. 13 — Pigeon trembleur paon,
Boitard et Corbie, Monographie des Pig. Domes, p. 224. —
Broad-tailed Shaker, Will. Orn. p. 181.

THIS curious variety, remarkable for the number
of its tail-feathers, which, in some individuals, have
been known to amount to upwards of forty, possesses,
at the same time, the power of erecting it in the
manner of a turkey cock, during which action, and
particularly when paying court to its mate, it trem-
bles or shakes, like the peacock when moving about
with his train expanded and in full display. Tins
power of spreading and erecting the tail is not, how-
ever, confined to the male bird, but is possessed to
an equal extent by the female, who resembles the
male in every respect. In size it is inferior to most
of the varieties, and is farther characterized by hav-
ing a short, slender bill, pendant wings, and naked
legs and feet. It is not very prolific, and seldom
succeeds so well in the aviary or pigeon-house as
most of the other kinds ; and, from the size and
position of fts unwieldy tail, flies awkwardly, and

158 BROAD OR FAN-TAILED SHAKER.

is apt to be carried away or overset by the wind.
To retain all tbe characters above mentioned, it is
necessary to keep the breed perfectly pure, as any
cross is certain to dimmish one or more of the pe-
culiar qualities of the race. The ordinary appear-
ance of the fan-tail is white, or white with a black
head and tail. It is also frequently seen with the
mantle and tail affecting the various colours which
prevail in domestic pigeons, as dark and light blue,
reddish-brown, &c. The female of this variety,
crossed with the male glou-glou, or Tambour Pigeon,
produces the Narrow-tailed Shaker or Quaker, in
which the number of the tail-feathers decrease, as
well as the power of spreading and erecting it. The
trembling action, however, remains unabated.

Our next plate represents a variety not less re-
markable ; it is the

150

JACOBINE PIGEON.

Columba cucullata Jacobina.*— WILL.

PLATE XIV.
Pigeon Nonnain capucin, Monog. des. Pig. Domes, p. 135.

THIS curious variety, which, as transmitting to its
posterity a form precisely similar, with all the pecu-
liar characters undiminished, comes under the desig-
nation, among* pigeon fanciers, of a pure or perma-
nent race, is distinguished by a remarkable ruff or
frill of raised feathers, which, commencing behind
the head, and proceeding down the neck and breast,
form a kind of hood, not unlike that worn by a
monk ; and from its resemblance to which it has ob-
tained its Gallic trivial name of Nonnain capucin.

In size it is one of the smallest of the domestic
pigeons, but its form is light and elegant. The bill
is very short ; the eyes surrounded with a moderate
circle of naked red skin. The legs are unplumedL
The head, the wings, and the tail, are always white*
The usual colour of the hood is reddish-brown, with
iridescent tints. The mantle, the wing-coverts, and
the breast, are reddish-brown. It is also sometimes
seen with the mantle and wing-coverts of a very

160 JACOBINE PIGEON.

deep red, spotted with black. Another variety, of
a uniform pale fawn-colour, is not unfrequent ; but
that most highly prized is entirely of a pure and
glossy white. It is a very productive species, and,
having its flight considerably impeded by the size
and form of its hooded pile, keeps much at home,
and is well adapted for the aviary or other buildings
where pigeons are kept confined.
Our next plate represents the

161

POWTER OR CROPPER PIGEON.

Columba var. Gutturosa subrubicunda.
PLATE XV

Columba (var.) gutturosa subrubicunda. — Pigeon grosse
gorge soupe en vin, Monog. des Pig. Domest. p. 173.

THE faculty of inflating the oesophagus, to a li-
mited extent, appears to be possessed by the pigeon
and all its varieties, and is no doubt in some way
connected with and essential to its economy ; but
in this variety it is developed to an extraordinary
extent, far exceeding that of any of its congeners,
and can only be considered as resulting from a mon-
strous or unnatural formation of the gullet. In what
is considered the pure, or most esteemed examples of
this sort, that is, where this power is the greatest,
the oesophagus, when fully inflated, sometimes equals
the body itself in dimensions. As might be sup-
posed, this peculiarity subjects the bird to many in-
conveniences, and frequently to fatal accidents, for
when thus puffed out to its full extent, the bird, in
order to sustain its centre of gravity, is obliged to
keep in an upright or nearly perpendicular position,

VOL. IX. L

1G2 POWTER OR CROPPER PIGEON.

with the head thrown far back, which prevents if
from seeing any thing directly before it, and causes
it to become an easy prey to the hawk or other ene-
mies. It is also unable, in consequence of this con-
strained attitude, to defend itself from the attacks of
other pigeons, who, by a single stroke of the bill,
frequently pierce the inflated craw, and give it a mor-
tal wound. But in addition to accidents from exter-
nal enemies, it is also liable to a disease in this part,
which generally proves fatal in the course of a few
days. This always attacks them when they happen
to have a young brood, and is produced by the re-
iterated and severe efforts they are obliged to make,
in order to bring or cast up the partially digested
food necessary for their support. For by those oft
repeated and violent attempts, the muscles of the
esophagus or craw, weakened in all probability be-
forehand by the constant inflation of t/ie parts, oe-
come paralyzed and lose their power of contraction ;
and the crop being no longer able to discharge its
proper digestive functions, inflammation ensues,
which is rapidly succeeded by ulceration, and a pe-
riod is soon put to the life of the bird. On this ac-
count, added to its unproductiveness, it holds but a
secondary place in the estimation of the amateur, al-
though, in point of appearance, it is as singular, and
in regard to beauty and diversity of plumage, equal
to any of the other races.

It is found of all the various colours incident to
domestic pigeons, though the reddish-brown is per-

POWTER OR CROPPER PIGEON. 163

haps the most prevalent among the English breeders.
The horseman pigeons, another esteemed variety, are
supposed to have originated from a cross between
the Powter and the great Roman Pigeon.
Our next plate is the

164-

TURKISH OB MAWMET PIGEON.

Columba Turcica.
PLATE XVI.

Columba Turcica vulgaris — Pigeon Turc ordinaire, Mo-
nog, des Pig. Domest. p. 188. — Carrier Pigeon.

IN England, the pigeon generally known by the
name of the Carrier, appears to belong to this race,
as it possesses all the characteristics of the Columba
Turcica of authors, viz. great size, a bill tuberculated
at the base, and the eyes surrounded with a broad
circle of naked red skin, elevated tarsi, and wings
reaching nearly to the end of the tail. This name,
however, according to the authors of the " Mono-
graphic des Pigeons Domestiques," is improperly ap-
plied, and ought to be appropriated to a very differ-
ent variety, which they designate in their interest-
ing work as the Columba tabellaria> or race of " Pi-
geons volans." This, in contradistinction to the
Turkish variety, is of small size, without tuberculat-
ed nostrils, and the circle around the eye small and
narrow. In point of fecundity and productiveness,
it surpasses any other race, and shews a still greater
attachment to the place of its birth, a fact in proof

PLATE 16.

C OLUMBA LIVIA.VAR TURCICA.

( Turkish or Maw:.

UNIVERSITY }

TURKISH OR MAWMET PIGEON. 165

of its superior claim to the title in dispute, as it is
the excessive development of this instinctive feeling
that urges the Carrier, when transported from its na-
tive habitation, even to a distance of many hundred
miles, to wing its way back without stop or delay,
the moment it is uncaged and set at liberty. Its
flight is also very rapid and generally at a high ele-
vation, particularly when employed as a messenger,
and at a great distance from home. Upon such oc-
casions its first essay is to attain a high altitude by
a series of circular evolutions. This accomplished,
it instinctively darts off in the direction of its native
home, as if guided by the compass, and acquainted
with the true bearings of the place it seeks to re-
gain.

The pigeon, and we may presume the variety,
thus adverted to by MM. Boitard and Corbie, as to
it may be referred all the figures depictured in the
monuments of the ancient sculptors, representing
Venus as attended or drawn in a car by doves, has
from the earliest ages been employed as a messenger
to convey information between distant points, where
unwonted celerity and despatch were required. Thus
we read of it as conveying the welcome intelligence
of succour and relief to besieged cities, of battles
lost or won ; and in the poetry and tales of the East,
it is frequently described as the appropriate bearer
of a lover's vows to his distant mistress. Even at
the present day, it is still employed where extraor-
dinary despatch is required, and in Holland, France

166 TURKISH OR MAWMET PIGEON.

and other countries, the race is kept uncontaminated
and pure. The Turkish variety, or that represented
in our Plate, on the contrary, possesses none of the
qualifications requisite for a speedy messenger, its
flight being slow and heavy, from its superior size
and weight, nor is it distinguished by any extraordi-
nary attachment to the place of its birth. It is
therefore probable, that the name of carrier has been
given to it more on account of its oriental origin,
where the pigeon was first made use of in this way,
than for any real fitness for such an office. It is
among the largest of the domestic pigeons, and is re-
markable for the tubercles which grow upon the soft
or membranous part of the bill, and the breadth of
the naked skin encircling the eye. It is of various
colours, but the dark-blue or red-brown predomi-
nates.

We shall now take our leave of the Columba livia
and its varieties, and proceed to describe other inte-
resting members of the family.

The next extensive division of the Columbidae we
have to notice, is that of the Turtles, or Ectopistina,
adopting the term from the genus Ectopistes, insti-
tuted by Mr Swainson for the reception of the Co-
lumba migratoria of authors, which, in all probability,
from the great development of its wings, tail, &c.
will prove the typical form of the group. They are
distinguished from the pigeons by a general inferior-
ity of size, by a bill of weaker conformation, by the

ECTOPISTINyE. 167

comparative length of their toes, the inner in this
section being longer than the outer toe ; whereas in
the true pigeons they are of equal length, and by the
form of the tail which is more or less graduated, be-
ing merely rounded in the common Turtle, and gra-
duated to an extreme degree in the Passenger Pigeon
(Ectopistes migratoria). The passage from the pi-
geons to the turtles is by an easy gradation of form,
and is effected by such species as the Columba Le-
vaillantii of Wagler, which in external appearance
bears a close resemblance to the Turtur risorius of
South Africa, but retains the bill and feet of the pre-
ceding group. A great similarity exists in their ha-
bits and manners, and, like most of the true pigeons,
they are gressorial as well as arboreal birds, their
feet being equally adapted for walking or grasping.
They seek their food upon the ground, and subsist
upon the different cerealia, pulse, &c. They repose,
roost, and nidificate upon trees, and, like the pigeons,
lay but two eggs each hatching. Few of the minor
groups, or genera, or by whatever name the lowest
assemblage of species may be denominated, have yet
been characterised. We may point to the turtles or
group containing the common Turtle Dove, the do-
mestic Turtle, &c. as one ; another, as we have above
stated, is represented by the Passenger Pigeon of
America ; a third seems indicated by the Columba
humeralis of Temminck, the Columba erythrauchen
of Wagler, in which the wings are comparatively
short and rounded, having the first quill-feather ab-

168 ECTOPISTINJE.

ruptly narrowed towards the tip, as in genus Ptili-
nopus, and as it also exists in several members of
the ground doves or Partridge Pigeons. The Co-
lumha Capensis of authors, and Columba Macquarrie
of Lesson, also appear to possess characters which
in all probability will separate them from the fore-
going groups, and it is by these arid some other
nearly allied forms, that a passage to the next divi*
sion or Ground Doves is effected.

169

GENUS TURTUR.

THE birds belonging to this group are distin-
guished by their bill, which is slenderer in its pro-
portions than that of the Pigeons. The tip of the
upper mandible is gently deflected, that of the lower
scarcely exhibiting an appearance of an angle. Legs,
the tarsi rather shorter than the middle toe. Feet
formed for walking or perching, the inner toe longer
than the outer. Front of the tarsi covered with
broad imbricated scales. Wings, the first quill a
little shorter than the second, the third the longest
of all. Tail rounded, or slightly graduated. The
Turtles are inferior in size to the Pigeons, which
they closely resemble in their habits. They feed
upon the ground, but roost and breed in the
woods.

As an example of the genus, we present our read-
ers with a figure of the well known

170

COLLARED TURTLE

Turtur risorius.
PLATE XVII.

Columba risoria, Auct — Turtur torquatus Senegalensis,
Briss. 1. p. 124. t. 11. f. 1 — Colombe blonde, Temm. Pig.

1. p. 323 — Tourterelle a collier, Buff. PL Enl No. 244

Boitard et Corbie. Monog. des. Pigeons, p. 236. pi. 25.

FROM a very remote period this species appears
to have been domesticated, or rather kept in that
state of captivity in which it is retained at the pre-
sent day ; for there is every reason to suppose that
the turtle dove adverted to in Holy Writ may be re-
ferred to the same bird, as it is still abundant in
Egypt and other parts of the East, where it is fos-
tered and cultivated with care, and it is certain that
many of the representations in the works of ancient
art, where the dove figures as the emblem of tender-
ness and affection, or where it is depicted as the ap-
propriate attendant of Venus, are accurate delinea-
tions of the Collared or domestic Turtle.

This bird does not appear to be susceptible of
that attachment to its home or place of birth, fur
which the common or Dove-cot Pigeon is remark-

PLATE 17.

COLLARED TURTLE. 171

able, and which peculiar quality renders that species
so serviceable to man. On the contrary, like its
congener the common or wild European turtle (Tur-
tur communis), it cannot be left to range at perfect
liberty, without the danger of its flying away to re-
turn no more, and must therefore be kept constant-
ly confined either in cages or in aviaries adapted for
the purpose. In this state of captivity, if properly
attended to, it breeds with facility, sometimes pro-
ducing as many as eight broods within the year ;
but, being a native of warm climates, and very im-
patient of cold, it is seldom cultivated to the same
extent in this country as it is in those where the
temperature is better adapted to its constitution.
The male shews great tenderness arid affection to
his mate, and is constantly by her side, soothing her
with caresses, or paying his court by soft cooing
notes, and that peculiar cry so expressive of laugh-
ter, and from which it takes its specific name.

In its wild or natural state, it is found in various
parts of Africa, and we have by us specimens from
the southern part of that continent, a description of
which, as varying in depth and intensity of colour
from the domestic variety, is here subjoined. The
length is about ten inches. The chin is whitish, from
the corners of the mouth to the eyes, is a narrow
streak of black. The forehead is pale bluish-gray ;
the crown darker ; the cheeks, neck, breast, and
belly gray, tinged with vinaceous or pale purplish-
red ; the hind neck with a demi-collar of black, some

172 COLLARED TURTLE.

of the side feathers composing it being tipped with
white. The back scapulars and rump are of a pale
clove-brown, with a greenish tinge. The margins
of the wings, the greater coverts, and under wing-
coverts, are blue gray. The greater quills are hair-
brown, delicately edged with grayish-white. The
tail is slightly rounded, the two middle feathers en-
tirely clove-brown, the remainder on each side with
the basal half black, the tips bluish-gray, except
those of the two outermost, which are white. The
vent and under tail-coverts are white ; the legs and
feet gray ; the inner toe a little longer than the outer.
In its natural state, it inhabits the woods, where it
breeds, making a nest similar to that of the common
turtle, and lays two white eggs. It seeks its food
in the open grounds, and subsists upon grain, grass-
seeds, pulse, &c. It is easily distinguished, and the
place of its retreat soon discovered by its cooing-
notes, one of which we have already stated to re-
semble the human laugh.

A mixed breed is sometimes obtained between
this species and the common wild turtle, but the
progeny are invariably mules, and incapable of far-
ther increase, — a fact that has been established by
many careful and oft- repeated experiments, and one
which affords a strong argument against the suppo-
sition, that many of the varieties of the common
pigeon, or of the domestic fowl, are the result of a
mixture of different species.

COLLARED TURTLE. 173

Besides the wild turtle known to us as a regular
summer visitant in the southern districts of England,
the Columba maculicollis and the Columba aurita
of Temminck, and several others belong to the group,
of which the present species may be considered a
type.

Our next Plate represents a beautiful species,
which we shall call the

174

CRESTED TURTLE.

Turtur? lophotes.
FLATE XVIII.

Columba lophotes, Temminck, PI. Col. pi. 142, Le male.—
W agler, Syst. Av. sp. 103.

THE general contour of this bird, as well as the
form of its bill and feet, plainly indicate its near re-
lationship to the turtles, among which we have pro-
visionally placed it, though it is likely it may form,
in conjunction with the Columba humeralis of Tem-
minck, and some other species, in which the tail is
long and considerably graduated, a separate or sub-
generic group. It is distinguished from all its con-
geners, and rendered remarkable by its long occipi-
tal crest, which, in form as well as in the quality of
the feathers of which it is composed, exactly resem-
bles that of the common Peewit ( Vanellus cristatus).
Its native country is Australia, and it inhabits the
interior and mountainous districts of that interesting
country ; but we regret to add, that of its peculiar
habits and economy we have no detailed accounts, —
a loss the more to be regretted, as it is from our
knowledge of these that the proper position of the

CRESTED TURTLE. ] 75

species, in relation to the other Columbidse, can he
satisfactorily ascertained. The following is a de-
scription of the plumage of the adult male.

The bill, which is small and slender, is black.
The head, neck, and the whole of the under plum-
age, pale gray ; the hind neck slightly tinged with
lavender-purple. Crest horizontal, composed of se-
veral long acuminated narrow feathers, of a grayish-
black colour. Back and lesser wing-coverts inclin-
ing to clove-brown, each feather terminated with
yellowish-brown, and having a transverse black bar.
Greater coverts of a shining metallic green, finely
edged with white. Secondaries with their exterior
webs of a metallic purple, spotted with black ; the
exterior webs and greater quills blackish-gray. Low-
er back, rump, and two middle tail-feathers, umber-
brown ; the rest of the tail violet, with a green me-
tallic lustre ; the tips of the feathers white.

176

GENUS ECTOPJSTES,— SWAINSON.

The characters of this group, as given by Mr
Swainson, who first separated the members belong-
ing to it from the Turtles, are as follows : — Bill
slender, the tip of the upper mandible emarginated.
Wings sub- elongated and pointed, the first and third
quills equal, the second the longest. Tail rounded
or cuneated. Legs short, naked. The tarsi scaled
as in genus Turtur.

Our next Plate represents the well known

177

PASSENGER TURTLE.

JEc topis tes migratoria. — SWAXNSON.
PLATE XIX.

Columba migratoria, Auct. — Passenger Pigeon, Wils. Amer.
Ornith. pi. 44, fig. 1.— And. Ornith. Biog. p. 319, pi. 62.

AMONG the few groups of the Columbidae already
characterized, is that of Ecfopistes, a genus ustitut-
ed by Mr Swainson, for the reception of the Colum-
ba migratoria and Columba Carolinensis of authors,
birds which, though nearly allied in other characters,
are distinguished from the rest of the turtles by the
greater length of their wings and tail, those essential
organs of motion, the extra development of which
necessarily indicates an economy and mode of life
different from that of those species where these
members are comparatively short, and differently
proportioned. The subject of our present Plate is a
native of the North American Continent, where it
occupies a very extensive range between the twen-
tieth and sixtieth degrees of N. latitude, and is not
less remarkable for living at all times, even includ-
ing the period of incubation, associated in flocks of
countless myriads, than for its migrations, which,

" VOL. ix. M

178 PASSENGER TURTLE.

unlike those of other birds, whose movements are
considerably affected by temperature, are not under-
taken, at any fixed period or season of the year, or
frozen or cold, to a warmer climate, but are entirely
regulated by the supply or want of food ; for Audu-
bon, in his interesting account of this bird, remarks,
" It sometimes happens, that a continuance of a suf-
ficient supply of food in one district will keep these
birds absent from another for years. I know at
least to a certainty, that, in Kentucky, they re-
mained for several years constantly, and were no
where else to be found. They all suddenly disap-
peared one season, when the mast was exhausted,
and did not return for a long period."

Their power of flight, indicated by the length of
their wings and tail, is very great ; and, indeed, with-
out a locomotive gift of extraordinary extent, it
would be impossible for such countless numbers as
are seen associated together to exist ; for the supply
of food in the immediate neighbourhood of their
roosting resort or their breeding-places, when they
are necessarily engaged for months together, soon
becomes exhausted, and they have frequently to tra-
verse each day an immense distance in quest of a
further supply. This is proved by facts narrated by
Wilson in his graphic history of this bird, as well as
by Audubon, who mentions the extraordinary cir-
cumstance, that " pigeons have been killed in the
neighbourhood of New York, with their crops full of
rice, which they must have collected in the fields of

PASSENGER TURTLE. 179

Georgia and Carolina, these districts being the near-
est in which they could possibly have procured a
supply of that kind of food." The distance between
these points is stated to be between three and four
hundred miles ; and, as the decomposition of their
food is completely effected in twelve hours, this
space must have been travelled within the short pe-
riod of five or six hours.

The account of their roosting and breeding places
is too curious to be omitted ; we therefore make no
apology for quoting at length Wilson's description
contained in the American Ornithology. " The
roosting-places are always in the woods, and some-
times occupy a large extent of forest. When they
have frequented one of those places for some time,
the appearance it exhibits is surprising. The ground
is covered to the depth of several inches with their
dung ; all the tender grass and underwood destroyed ;
the surface strewed with large limbs of trees, broken
down by the weight of the birds collecting one above
another ; and the trees themselves, for thousands of
acres, killed as completely as if girdled with an axe.
The marks of their desolation remain for many years
on the spot ; and numerous places could be pointed
out, where, for several years after, scarcely a single
vegetable made its appearance. When these roosts
are first discovered, the inhabitants, from consider-
able distances, visit them in the night, with guns,
clubs, long poles, pots of sulphur, and various other
engines of destruction. In a few hours they fill many

180 PASSENGER TURTLE.

sacks and load horses with them. By the Indians, a
pigeon-roost or breeding- place is considered an im-
portant source of national profit and dependence for
that season, and all their active ingenuity is exercised
on the occasion. The breeding-place differs from the
former in its greater extent. In the western coun-
tries, viz. the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana,
these are generally in back woods, and often extend
in nearly a straight line across the country for a
great way. Not far from Shelbyville, in the State of
Kentucky, about five years ago, there was one of
these breeding-places, which stretched through the
woods in nearly a north and south direction, was se-
veral miles in breadth, and was said to be upwards
of forty miles in extent ! In this tract almost every
tree was furnished with nests wherever the branches
could accommodate them. The pigeons made their
first appearance there about the 10th of April, and
left it altogether with their young before the 25th
of May. As soon as the young were fully grown,
and before they left the nests, numerous parties of
the inhabitants, from all parts of the adjacent coun-
try, came with waggons, axes, beds, cooking uten-
sils, many of them accompanied by the greater part
of their families, and encamped for several days at
this immense nursery. Several of them informed
me that the noise was so great as to terrify their
horses, and that it was difficult for one person to
hear another speak without bawling in his ear. The
ground was strewed with broken limbs of trees, eggs,

PASSENGER TURTLE. 181

and young squab pigeons, which had been precipi-
tated from above, and on which herds of hogs were
fattening. Hawks, buzzards, and eagles, were sail-
ing about in great numbers, and seizing the squabs
from the nests at pleasure ; while, from twenty feet
upwards to the top of the trees, the view through
the woods presented a perpetual tumult of crowding
and fluttering multitudes of pigeons, their wings
roaring like thunder, mingled with the frequent crash
of falling timber ; for now the axemen were at work,
cutting down those trees that seemed to be most
crowded with nests, and contrived to fell them in
such a manner, that, in their descent, they might
bring down several others., by which means, the fall-
ing of one large tree sometimes produced 200 squabs,
little inferior in size to the old ones, and almost one
heap of fat. On some single trees, upwards of a hun-
dred nests were found, each containing one squab
only ; a circumstance, in the history of this bird, not
generally known to naturalists. It was dangerous to
walk under these flying and fluttering millions, from
the frequent fall of large branches, broken down by
the weight of the multitudes above, and which, in
their descent, often destroyed numbers of the birds
themselves ; while the clothes of those engaged in
traversing the woods were completly covered with
the excrements of the pigeons. These circumstances
were related to me by many of the most respectable
part of the community in that quarter ; and were
confirmed, in part, by what I myself witnessed. I

182 PASSENGER TURTLE.

passed for several miles through this same breeding-
place, where every tree was spotted with nests, the
remains of those above described. In many instances
I counted upwards of ninety nests on a single tree,
but the pigeons had abandoned this place for ano-
ther, sixty or eighty miles off towards Green River,
where they were said at that time to be equally nu-
merous. From the great numbers that were con-
stantly passing over our head to or from that quar-
ter, I had no doubt of the truth of this statement.
The mast had been chiefly consumed in Kentucky :
and the pigeons, every morning, a little before sun-
rise, set out for the Indiana territory, the nearest
part of which was about sixty miles distant. Many
of these returned before 10 o'clock, and the great
body generally appeared on their return a little after
noon. I had left the public road to visit the re-
mains of the breeding-place near Shelbyville, and was
traversing the woods with my gun, on my way to
Frankfort, when, about 1 o'clock, the pigeons which
I had observed flying the greater part of the morning
northerly, began to return, in such immense num-
bers as I never before had witnessed. Coming to
an opening by the side of a creek, called the Benson,
where I had a more uninterrupted view, I was asto-
nished at their appearance. They were flying with
great steadiness and rapidity, at a height beyond gun-
shot, in several strata deep, and so close together,
that, could shot have reached them, one discharge
could not have failed of bringing down several indi-

PASSENGER TURTLE. 183

viduals. From right to left, as far as the eye could
reach, the breadth of this vast procession extended,
seeming every where equally crowded. Curious to
determine how long this appearance would continue,
I took out my watch to note the time, and sat down
to observe them. It was then half-past one ; I sat
for more than an hour, but instead of a diminution
of this prodigious procession, it seemed rather to in-
crease, both in numbers and rapidity ; and anxious
to reach Frankfort before night, I rose and went on.
About four o'clock in the afternoon I crossed Ken-
tucky River, at the town of Frankfort, at which time
the living torrent above my head seemed as numerous
and as extensive as ever. Long after this, I observed
them in large bodies, that continued to pass for six or
eight minutes, and these again were followed by other
detached bodies, all moving in the same south-east
direction, till after six o'clock in the evening. The
great breadth of front which this mighty multitude
preserved would seem to intimate a corresponding
breadth of their breeding-place, which, by several
gentlemen who had lately passed through part of it,
was stated to me at several miles."

After a few additional observations, our author
proceeds to give a rough estimate of the numbers of
the above mentioned mighty flock, and the quantity
of food necessary for its daily support. " If," he
says, " we suppose this column to have been one
mile in breadth (and I believe it to have been much
more), and that it moved at the rate of one mile in

184 PASSENGER TURTLE.

a minute, four hours, the time it continued passing,
would make its whole length 240 miles. Again,
supposing that each square yard of this moving body
comprehended three pigeons, the square yards in the
whole space multiplied by three, would give two
thousand two hundred and thirty millions, two hun-
dred and seventy-two thousand pigeons ! an almost
inconceivable multitude, and yet probably far below
the actual amount. Computing each of these to
consume half a pint daily, the whole quantity at this
rate, would equal seventeen millions four hundred
and twenty-four thousand bushels per day !"

This wonderful account of the roosting and breed-
ing places of the Passenger Pigeon, is corroborated
in every point by Audubon, who, in his delightful
work the " American Ornithological Biography,"
has added various other particulars connected with
its history, which want of space alone prevents us
adverting to ; we cannot, however, pass over some of
his observations on the mode of flight of these birds.
" It is," he remarks, " extremely interesting to see
flock after flock performing exactly the same evolu-
tions which had been traced as it were in the air by
a preceding flock. Thus, should a hawk have
charged on a group at a certain spot, the angles,
curves, and undulations that have been described by
the birds, in their efforts to escape from the dreaded
talons of the plunderer, are undeviatingly followed
by the next group that comes up. Should the by-
stander happen to witness one of these affrays, and,

PASSENGER TURTLE. 185

struck with the rapidity and elegance of the motions
exhibited, feel desirous of seeing them repeated, his
wishes will he gratified, if he only remain in the
place until the next group comes up."

His description of their evolutions, when a supply
of food has been discovered, is also highly graphic.
" As soon as the Pigeons discover a sufficiency of
food to entice them to alight, they fly round in circles,
reviewing the country below. During their evolu-
tions on such occasioiiSj the dense mass which they
form exhibits a beautiful appearance, as it changes
its direction, now displaying a glistening sheet of
azure when the backs of the birds come simultane-
ously into view, and anon, suddenly presenting a
mass of rich deep purple. They then pass lower
over the woods, and for a moment are lost among
the foliage, but again emerge, and are seen gliding
aloft. They now alight, but the next moment, as if
suddenly alarmed, they take to wing, producing, by
the flapping of their wings, a noise like the roar of
distant thunder, and sweep through the forests to see
if any danger is near. Hunger, however, soon brings
them to the ground. When alighted, they are seen
industriously throwing up the withered leaves in
quest of the fallen mast. The rear ranks are con-
tinually rising, passing over the main body, and
alighting in front, in such rapid succession, that the
whole flock seems still on wing. The quantity of
ground thus swept is astonishing, and so completely
has it been cleared, that the gleaner who might fol-

186 PASSENGER TURTLE.

low in their rear, would find his labour completely
lost."

Beech-mast and acorns, produced in incredible
quantities by the primeval American forests, consti-
tute a great proportion of the food of these birds ;
but great quantities of buckwheat, hempseed, Indian
corn, rice, hollyberries, hackberries, and other small
fruits, are also consumed in their respective seasons.

They commence breeding early in spring, and are
said to produce two or three broods in the year, each
hatching, according to Wilson, consisting of a single
young one. Audubon, however, mentions, that they
lay two pure white eggs, of a broadly elliptical form,
and further adds, " It is a remarkable fact, that each
brood generally consists of a male and female."
Judging from analogy, and the habits of other near-
ly allied species, we are inclined to think that Wil-
son, who does not profess to have ascertained the
fact from observations made by himself, must have
been misinformed upon this point by those who gave
him the information. The nest is composed of slen-
der twigs loosely put together, and, like that of the
Ring Pigeon or Turtle, has little or no concavity.
Upon the approach of the breeding season, the male
pays court to the other sex by sundry and oft-re-
peated gesticulations, accompanied by cooing notes,
and the billing observed in many other species is also
practised by them. The flesh of the old birds is of
a dark colour, and rather hard and dry. The young
or squabs, are, however, stated to be excellent, and

PASSENGER TURTLE 187

before they leave the nest, or are left by their pa-
rents to seek their own food, are loaded with fat.
This is frequently melted down in large quantities
for culinary purposes, by those who are near enough
to profit by the plunder of a breeding station of this
remarkable bird.

The form of the Passenger Turtle is graceful and
elegant. The wings are long and acuminate, having
the second quill-feather exceeding the others in
length. The tail is greatly cuneiform or graduated,
and consists of twelve tapering feathers. The bill is
of a black colour, and similar in form to that of the
turtle, and the legs, which are purplish-red, are short
and strong. The iris is of a bright orange-red, the
naked orbit purplish-red. The head and cheeks are
pale bluish-grey, the fore-neck, the breast, and sides
of a brownish-red, with a purplish tinge. The ab-
domen and vent are white. The lower part and
sides of the neck are of a purplish-crimson, reflect-
ing tints of emerald green and gold. The upper
plumage is of a deep bluish-grey, some of the scapu-
lars and wing-coverts spotted with black. The greater
coverts are grey, tipped with white. The quills are
blackish-grey, with their exterior webs bluish- grey.
Tail, with the two middle feathers, entirely black,
the other five on each side grey at the base, with a
black bar on the interior arch, and passing into white
towards the extremities. The female is rather in-
ferior in size, and has the colours of her plumage

188 PASSENGER TURTLE.

much duller than those of the male, though the dis-
tribution is the same.

Another American species, the Columba Caroli-
nensis of authors, also belongs to this genus.

Our next plate represents a beautiful, though di-
minutive, species, which we have provisionally placed
under this genus, though it is probable, from its geo-
graphic distribution, and that of another species dis-
covered by Freycinet, as well as from some differ-
ences of structure, that it will eventually be found
the type of a distinct group. It is the

PLATE 20.

189

'>e LiBftT

CAPE TURTLE.
Eclopistes ? Capensis.

PLATE XX.

Columba Capensis, A uct — Columba atrogularis, Wag. Syst.
Av. sp. 108 — Tourterelle a cravatte noire du Cap. de B.

esp. Buff. PI. Enl. p. 140 Colombo tourtelette, Temm.

Pig. 8vo, i. p. 366. pi. 53 — Id. PL Coloriees, Jeune mdle,
pi. 341. fig. 2.

THE great length of the tail of this pretty species,
which of itself measures six inches, gives it an ap-
pearance of bulk, which it does not in reality possess,
as the body scarcely exceeds that of the common
lark in size. Its wings are moderately long, and
reach, when closed, to about the third the length of
the tail ; the second quill-feather rather exceeds the
fiu-, and is the longest in the wing. The tail is
greatly cuneated, and, like that of the Passenger
Turtle, consists of twelve feathers, the tips of which
are rounded, except the two middle ones, which are
generally worn to a point. The bill Is very slender,
without emargination, and the upper mandible very
gently deflected towards the tip. r."he tarsi and
toes are short, the claws blunt, and but little hooked,
shewing it to be partly ambulatory in its habits.

190 CAPE TURTLE.

Another species very nearly allied to the present
has lately been discovered in Australia, to which the
name of Columba Macguarrii has been given ; and
the Columba venusta of Temminck's Planches Co-
loriees also appears referable to the same group, or
at least may be considered as its analogue in South
America.

The Cape Turtle, as its name implies, is common
around that district of Southern Africa, and is also
met with in Senegal, Senegambia, and Nubia. Of
its habits and manners we have no detailed account,
except that it makes its nest in low trees and shrubs,
and lays two white pellucid-looking eggs, very fra-
gile and easily broken. The male, as represented
on the plate, has the forehead, the region around the
base of the bill, the chin, throat, and central part of
the breast, intense black. The crown of the head,
the region of the eyes, the sides of the neck and
breast, flanks, and lesser wing-coverts, are of a pale
French-grey ; the middle of the abdomen, thighs,
and vent, are white. The lower part of the hind
neck and back are of a pale hair-brown. Two of
the greater wing-coverts, and the secondary quill
nearest the body, have a large spot of violaceous or
metallic purple upon their outer webs. The greater
quills are rich orange-brown, with the exterior webs
and tips brownish-black. The under coverts of the
wings are orange-brown, the long axillary feathers
and under tail-coverts black. Upon the rump are
two black bars, with an intermediate one of pale

CAPE TURTLE. 191

grey. Tail? with the two centre feathers grayish-
brown from the base half-way up, and then passing
into black, those on each side rapidly graduated,
bluish-gray at the base, with a broad black fascia
near their tips, which are gray. Bill and feet yellow.
Extreme length from the tip of the bill to the end of
the tail nearly ten inches.

The colours of the female are more sordid, and
the forehead and chin, instead of being black, are
nearly white ; the metallic spots upon the wings are
also less, and her tail shorter.

The young, instead of the black throat and breast,
have these parts brown, barred with white. The
feathers of the back and wing-coverts are also barred
with black, and terminated with white and reddish-
white, and the crown of the head is hair-brown, the
feathers margined with reddish -brown. The fore-
head and chin are white.

The next division, to which we direct the atten-
tion of our readers, is that of the Ground Doves, or
PeristerincB, distinguished from the preceding groups
by their terrene habits, and their evident approach,
in many points, to the more typical Rasores or Gal-
linaceous Birds. In these the bill is rather slender,
frequently subemarginate, and the tip of the upper
mandible but gently deflected ; the wings are gene-
rally short and rounded, and in many instances con-
cave, as we see them in the partridge, grous, &c.
The legs are considerably longer than in the typical

192 PERISTERINffi.

pigeons ; the tarsus usually exceeding the middle toe
in length, and the feet are better adapted for walk-
ing than grasping ; the claws are ohtuse, and slight-
ly arched. The hallux shorter, and its relative posi-
tion different from that of the arboreal species. Their
plumage is plainer and more uniform in tint than
that of some of the preceding groups, though it still
boasts of brilliancy in those species which connect
them with other forms. They live almost entirely
upon the ground, and many of the species run with
great celerity, on which account they have been call-
ed Partridge Pigeons. Their flight, which is usu-
ally low, is effected with greater exertion than that
of the Pigeons, and is never long sustained.

This division contains a great number of species,
and when better investigated, will be found divisible
into a variety of minor groups or genera. Mr Swain-
son has already characterized two, viz. Chcemepelia,
which embraces the diminutive Ground Doves of
America, and Peristera^ which contains the smaller
Columbi-Gallines of the French naturalists, distin-
guished by their lengthened tarsus and gallinaceous
habits, and which are found inhabiting Africa, as
well as America and its islands. We also include
in this division the Bronze-winged Dove of Austra-
lia, and other kindred species, such as the Columba
elegans of Temmirick, and Columba picata of Wag-
ler, to which we propose to give the generic name
of Phaps, an appellation formerly bestowed by the
Greeks upon some species or variety of pigeon.

PERISTERIN^E 193

This group is distinguished by a longer bill, very
faintly emarginate, and by its tarsi, which are mode-
rately long and naked, with the frontal scales divided
into two series, and the sides and hinder part reticu-
lated with minute scales. Another group seems in-
dicated by certain Asiatic species, conspicuous for
the rich metallic green of their dorsal plumage, simi-
lar to that of some of the Ptilinopinse. These have
the tarsi destitute of scales, except a few indistinct
ones in front, just above the junction of the toes
Their bill rather long, and destitute of the notch.
They live mostly upon the ground, but possess con-
siderable powers of flight. Of this latter group the
Columba super ciliosis of Wagler may be taken as
the type.

VOL. IX.

194

GENUS PHAPS,— SELBY,

Is characterized by a bill of moderate length, ra-
ther slender, the upper mandible gently deflected at
the tip, arid shewing an indication of a notch or
emargination. Wings of mean length, the second
and third feathers the longest, and nearly equal.
Tail slightly rounded. Legs, the tarsi as long as the
middle toe, the front covered with a double row of
scales, the sides and hinder part reticulated with
small hexagonal scales. The hind toe or hallux
short ; the inner toe exceeding the outer in length.
Claws blunt, and slightly arched. Type Columba
chalcoptera, Lath. To this group the Columba ele-
gans of Temminck and Columba picata cf Wagler
belong.

Our next figure represents the

195

BRONZE- WINGED GROUND DOVE.

Phaps chalcoptera.
PLATE XXI.

Columba chalcoptera, Lath. Ind. Ornith. 2. 604, sp. 39 —
W'dgler, Syst. Av. sp. 57 — Columba Lumachelle, Temm.
Pig. 8vo, p. 103, pi. ,22.

ALTHOUGH this species cannot vie in richness
and diversity of plumage with many of the pigeon
tribe, yet there are few whose general appearance
gives greater satisfaction or pleasure to the eye.
This appears to be the result of the effect produced
by the metallic splendour of the spots upon the wing-
coverts (which, in different lights, emulate the opal,
the ruby, and the sapphire in brilliancy), as contrast-
ed with the pleasing though subdued tint of the rest
of the plumage.

The Bronze-winged Dove is a native of Australia,
and many of the islands of the Pacific. It affects
sandy and arid situations, and is usually seen upon
the ground, or sometimes perched upon the low
branches of the shrubs that grow in such situations.
It breeds in the holes or decayed stumps of trees
near the ground, arid not unfrequently upon the sur-

196 BRONZE- WINGED GROUND DOVE.

face of the earth itself, making a very inartificial
nest, and laying two white eggs. It is usually seen
in pairs, and the place of its retreat is readily dis-
covered by its loud and sonorous cooings, which, at
a distance, are said to resemble the lowings of a cow.
Its chief food consists of a berry resembling a cherry,
the stones of which are generally found in its sto-
mach, during its abode around Sidney, which ap-
pears to be there restricted to the breeding season,
as it is only met with in that district from the month
of September till February.

In size it equals our Wood Pigeon, measuring
about 15 inches in extreme length. The bill, from
the corners of the mouth, is nearly one inch, of a
black colour, reddish towards the base. The fore-
head, the sinciput, the streak beneath the eyes, and
the throat, are white. The crown hair-brown, with
a reddish tinge, surrounded with a broad fillet of
dusky cochineal red. Cheeks and sides of neck blu-
ish-gray. Lower part of fore neck and breast pur-
plish gray. Abdomen and vent gray, slightly tinged
with pale lavender-purple. Back, scapulars, rump,
and upper tail -coverts, hair-brown, with a greenish
tint in some lights, each feather margined paler.
Lesser and greater wing-coverts bluish-gray, the ex-
terior webs each with a large ovate metallic spot,
exhibiting various tints, according to the light in
which it is viewed. Quills hair-brown on the upper
surface ; the inner surface of the inner webs deeply
margined with pale reddish-orange, which is also

BRONZE- WINGED GROUND DOVE. 197

the colour of the axillary feathers and under wing-
coverts. Tail bluish-gray, with a broad black fascia
about an inch from the top, slightly rounded. Legs
red, with two rows of scales in front, the sides reti-
culated.

The next group we have to notice is the

198

GENUS CH^EMEPELIA,— SWAINSON,

THE characters of which are : — Bill slender, en-
tire, the upper mandible gently deflected at the tip.
Wings rounded, the first arid fourth feathers of equal
length, and a little shorter than the second and third,
which are also equal ; second, third, and fourth fea-
thers, with their exterior weh sinuated, the fourth
with the middle of its inner web strongly toothed.
Tail rounded. Tarsi of nearly equal length with the
middle toe. The paratarsia or exterior side of the
tarsus with a line of small feathers.

Type Columba Talpicoti Temminck. The mem-
bers of this genus are natives of Continental Ameri-
ca, and its islands, and, with the exception of the
Columba Hottentotta of Temminck, an African and
nearly allied form, are the most diminutive of the
Pigeon tribe, several of the species scarcely exceed-
ing a sparrow in bulk. The wings are rounded,
though of ample extent, and the quill-feathers very
large and broad ; and, in all the species we have
examined, the fourth feather exhibits a remarkable
tooth or projecting notch near the middle of the in-
ner web. They inhabit the confines of woods and
bushy tracts, and are generally seen in pairs or small
families. They live much upon the ground, where

CtLEMPELIA. 199

they walk and run with great facility, and their flight
is low, usually in circling sweeps. They nidificate
upon low trees and shrubs, making a flimsy nest of
small twigs, and lay two spherical white eggs.

As a specimen of this group, our next Plate re-
presents the

200

FERRUGINOUS GROUND DOVE.

Chcemepelia Talpicoti — SWAINSON.
PLATE XXII.

Columba Talpicoti, Temm. Pig. 8vo. 1. p. 121 Wagler,

Syst. Av. sp. 86. — Colombe-Galline Talpicoti, Temm.

THIS diminutive species, which only measures
about six inches and a quarter in length, is pretty
widely distributed throughout Brazil, Paraguay, and
other districts of South America. It lives in the
open grounds, but generally near to the confines of
woods, as it roosts and breeds upon the lower bushes
or underwood, but never upon the larger trees, or
far from the ground. It is generally observed in
pairs, sometimes in families of four or six, but never
associated in large flocks. It appears to be of a
tame disposition, as it is seen constantly about the
confines of the houses or in the farm- yards, and
readily admits of a near approach. Wagler observes,
that, in Europe, it is easily kept and propagated in
the aviary. It is active upon the ground, and feeds
upon the smaller cerealia, berries, &c.

The following is the description of the adult male.
Forehead, crown, and nape of neck, ash-gray. Cheeks

CH^EMEPELIA TALPICOTI

( Ferruginous Ground Dove.)

N;.t ive of Brazil.

FERRUGINOUS GROUND DOVE.

201

and throat pinkish -white. Upper plumage entirely
brownish- orange, with the exception of a few trans-
verse streaks of black upon the exterior webs of
some of the wing-coverts nearest the body. Under
plumage deep vinaceous red. Axillary feathers and
part of under wing-coverts black. Tail with the
two middle feathers brownish-orange, the remainder
brownish-black, with reddish-brown tips, moderate-
ly curvated. Bill and orbits bluish-gray. Legs and
toes pale red, the outer side of the tarsus with a row
of small feathers down the line of junction between
the acrotarsia and paratarsia. Quills broad, the
fourth with a large projecting notch towards the
middle of the inner web. The fe-
mal' has the crown of the head of a
sordid gray. The upper plumage o.
a wood-brown, tinged with red ; the
scapulars and wing-coverts marked
as on the male. Under plumage dirty
gray, tinged with pale purplish -red.
Another species, the Chccmepelia
Picui, in the colour of the plumage
greatly resembles the female Talpi-
coit. The wing-coverts are more
deeply tinged with red, and the black
bars upon them ratherbroader. The
whole of the under wing-coverts, as
well as the greater quills, are black,
The tail is moderately rounded, with
the margin of the exterior feathers

202 FERRUOINOUS GROUND DOVE.

white. In size it exceeds the Talpicoti, measuring
full seven inches in length. The fourth quill-feather
is notched, and the tarsus feathered as in the other
species. The toes are stronger and shorter.

The Columba passerina of authors, and the Co-
lumba minula, belong to this genus.

-203

GENUS PERISTERA,— SWATNSON.

THIS well-marked group was first characterized
by Mr Swainson, in the third volume of the Zoolo-
gical Journal, and embraces a variety of species, na-
tives of America and the West India Islands. To
it we are inclined to add, at least for the present, a
few species belonging to the African Continent, as
they appear to possess characters precisely analogous,
and are distinguished by similar habits and manners.
In this group, an evident and near approach is made
to the true Gallinaceous Birds, both in regard to
form and economy. They have wings of a like shape,
being rounded and concave when expanded, like
those of a partridge. Their legs are considerably
longer than in the Typical Pigeons, and naked ; and
the feet formed for walking or running. From their
habits and general appearance, the French naturalists
have distinguished them from the other Columbidai
by the name of Colombi-Gallines, as expressive of
their near affinity to the other families of the Raso-
rial Order; and they stand, together with other
groups, as a separate section in Temminck's valuable
History of the Pigeons. They live and procure their
food upon the ground, where they walk and run
with facility ; but most of the species retire to low

204 PERISTERA

trees or shrubs to roost. Their flight is generally
low, of short continuance, and by quick repeated
strokes of the wings. Many make their nest upon
the ground, others upon low bushes ; and it is be-
lieved that all lay but two eggs each hatching, in
which respect they resemble the more Typical Pi-
geons.

Their generic characters are as follows : — Bill
slender, the tip of the upper mandible slightly de-
flected, with a distinct emargination. Wings round-
ed, concave, the first quill short, and, in some in-
stances, abruptly attenuated ; third and fourth fea-
thers the longest, and nearly equal ; exterior webs
of the second, third, and fourth quills deeply sinua-
ted. Legs, the tarsus as long as or longer than the
middle toe, the front covered with a row of large
imbricated scales, the sides and hinder part naked.
Toes entirely divided, the inner toe longer than the
outer. Claws moderately arched, blunt. Tail slight-
ly rounded.

The first we have to notice is rather an aberrant
form of the group, and appears to be one of the con-
necting links which more immediately unites it with
the turtles ; it is the

(' Kit I STK KA TYMPANISTRIA..

N;i ti\-c nt' S. A!'; ir-;i .

205

TAMBOURINE GKOljND DOVE.

Peristera tympanistria.
PLATE XXIII.

Columba tympanistria, Temm. Pig. PL 36 — Id. 8vo, i. 28.
— Wagler, Syst. Av. 1. sp. 102 — La TourterelleTambou-
rette, Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afric. 6, p. 61 — Columba tambou-
rette, Temm. Pig. 287.

So called, from the loud cooing notes of the male,
which at a certain distance resemble the sound of a
tambourine. It is a native of South Africa, froim
whence we have obtained specimens ; but it appears
by no means plentiful, as M. Le Vaillant informed
M. Temminck, that, for two hundred specimens of
another species, he could only obtain twenty seven
of this. In the rounded and concave form of the
wings, it agrees with the rest of the group, and the
first quill-feather is attenuated near the tip, as in
Peristera Jamaicensis, &c. The bill, however, does
not exhibit so distinct an emargination, and the sides
of the tarsi, though smooth, indicate an appearance
of minute scales. It is said to inhabit the woods,
but as no detailed circumstances relating to its ha-
bits are recorded, we are unable to judge whether
its economy is more in accordance with that of the

206 TAMBOURINE GROUND DOVE,

Turtles, or the present genus. It is a neat and
clean looking bird, the whole of the upper plumage
being of a bistre -brown, slightly tinged with grey up-
on the neck. Upon the outer webs of three or four of
the greater wing-coverts are large spots of lustrous
blackish -green. The middle tail-feathers are umber
brown ; the two exterior on each side gray, with a
broad black bar near the tip. The greater quills have
their inner webs deep brown. The forehead, streak
over the eye, and under plumage, is pure white.
The under wing-coverts and sides are pale orange-
brown ; under tail-coverts umber-brown. The bill
aad legs are gray, the latter slightly tinged with
red. In length it measures nearly nine inches.
Our next plate represents the

Tlutivt

207

WHITE-BELLIED GROUND DOVE.

Peristera Jamaicensis. *
PLATE XXIV.

Columba Jamaicensis, Lath. Ind. Ornith. 2, 595 sp. 8—
Temm. Pig. 8vo, p. 411. — Columba rufaxilla, Wagler,
Sysl. Av. sp. 69. — Columbe-Galline £ front gris, Temm.
Pig. pi. 10 — White-bellied Pigeon, Lath. Syn. 4, 619, 8.

IN this species we again have the curious attenua-
tion of the first quill feather, which, as already men-
tioned, exists in several species belonging to diffe-
rent groups of the Columbidae, in other respects, but
distantly connected with each other. In the rest of
its characters, it agrees with those we have given of
the genus, the bill being emarginated, the wings
rounded and concave, and the sides and hinder part
of the tarsi perfectly smooth. It is found in the
island of Jamaica, and is also widely distributed
throughout South America as far as the River Plate.
It inhabits wooded districts, and is seen perched
amidst the low thick bushes, where it conceals itself
and roosts, or else upon the ground where it obtains
its food, and where it walks and runs with great ac-
* Named on the Plate P. rufaxilla.

208 WHITE-BELLIED QROUND DOVE.

tivity and quickness. Its flight is very low, and
amidst the shrubs, as if endeavouring to conceal it-
self, and is never long sustained. It is usually ob-
served alone or in pairs, rarely in families or small
flocks. It feeds upon the seeds of various grasses,
maize, &c., and is also supposed to devour berries
and small fruits.

In length it measures about twelve inches. The
forehead, the chin, and throat, are hoary white. The
crown and nape of neck deep greenish -gray, tinged
with purple. The sides and hinder part of the neck
deep vinacious-red, with rich red lilac-purple and
golden-green reflections. Whole of the under plu-
mage white, tinged with vinacious-red upon the fore-
neck and breast. Upper plumage pale umber-brown,
with a slight tinge of oil-green. The three exterior
feathers on each side of the tail gray, tipped with
white, the middle feathers greyish-brown. First
quill-feather suddenly narrowed towards the tip.
Basal part of the inner webs of the quills, and the
whole of the under wing-coverts, pale orange-brown.
Bill black, five-eighths of an inch long. Legs and
toes reddish, the claws blunt and short. Tarsus one
and an eighth inch long.

The next bird we have to notice is the

Kative Of lln' West. ln,i:r:-,.

209

COPPER-COLOURED GROUND DOVE.

Peristera Martinica.

PLATE XXV.

Columba Martinica, Auct. — Columbe-Galline roux violet,
Temm. Pig. 8vo, p. 400. — Columba cuprea, Wagler, Syst.
Av. sp. 76.

IN form, as well as in its habits, this species of
Ground Dove approaches so near to some of the
Tetraonidae, as to have acquired in the West Indies
the name of the Mountain Partridge. It inhabits
elevated and rocky districts, where it runs with
great quickness, emulating in this respect the typi-
cal Rasores. Its legs are long as compared with
those of the Pigeons, and are bare a little above the
tarsal joint, characters indicative of its terrene habits ;
its wings are also short and rounded, and the tail
not so long as that of the species already described.
Its flight is consequently low, and by quick repeated
strokes of the pinions, like that of the Common Par-
tridge or Pheasant. It lives constantly upon the
ground, except during the time of repose, when it
perches upon the lowest limbs, or the stump of a
decayed tree. In its mode of nidification and breed-

VOL. ix.

210 COPPER-COLOURED GROUND DOVE.

ing, it also shews a nearer approach to the true gal-
linaceous birds, for its nest is not fixed or built like
that of the species we have described, in a tree or
bush, but upon the surface of the ground. The num-
ber of its eggs, however, are only two, but the
young are said to become sooner fledged, or at least
able to follow their parents, than those which nidifi-
cate at a distance from the ground. In general they
are found in families, or associated in larger covies,
and in disposition are described as wild and not easily
approached.

In length this bird measures about nine inches.
The bill, which is red, is rather more than half an
inch ; the basal part of the culmen of the upper man-
dible is thinly covered with small feathers. The
cheeks and throat are of a reddish- white ; the crown
of the head, the back part of the neck, and the whole
of the upper plumage are of a rich orange-brown,
glossed with purplish red, giving it a coppery appear-
ance. The foreneck and breast are reddish-white,
tinged with pale purplish-red, and passing upon the
belly and abdomen into pale wood-brown, slightly
tinged with pale purplish-red. The tail and quill
feathers are of the same colour as the back, the first
quill broad to the tip. The legs and feet are red ;
the tarsi one and an eighth of an inch in length.

Another species apparently belonging to this group
is the

:\ il ' I Vr i > t' I-. AtVi r;t .

211

v [TY

\^UFORN\k^'

WHITE-FRONTED GROUND DOVE.

Periatera larvata.
PLATE. XXVI.

Columba larvata Temm. Pig. pi. ,31 — Id. 8vo. p. 266 —
Wag. Syst. Av. sp. 67 — Columba a masque blanc, Temm

Pig. p. 266 Columba Erythrothorax, Temm. Pig. Fam.

Troisieme, pi. 7. —Id. 8vo, 405 — Wag. Syst. Av. sp. 68.
— Columbe-Galline & face blanche, Temm. Pig. 405.

IN size and the colour of its upper plumage, this
species bears a great resemblance to the White-
bellied Ground Dove. It belongs, however, to a
different quarter of the world ; as hitherto, it has only
been found in the southern division of the African
Continent. In the form of its bill and legs, it is
true to the type of the genus ; the wings are also
greatly rounded and concave, and the proportion of
the respective quill -feathers nearly the same, but it
wants the sudden attenuation or narrowed point of
the first feather, as observed in Peristera ruFaxilla ;
in this respect, however, it agrees with the last de-
scribed, and some other species, which have the first
quill broad, and without any sudden narrowing near
the point.

In M, Temminck's valuable history of the Pigeons,
two birds have been described under the names of

21*2 WHITE-FRONTED GROUND DOVE.

Columba larvata, and Columba erythrothorax, the
first of which is placed in the second section or Co-
lombes. Although he has made some very pertinent
remarks on its close affinity to the Ground Doves,
the other in the third section or Columbe-gallines,
upon referring to the descriptions of these two birds,
we cannot find any recognisable distinction between
them, that of the one answering equally well to the
other ; and we are strongly inclined to think he has
described the C. erythrothorax as a distinct species,
merely in consequence of his belief that the skin
from which he took his description belonged to an
American and not an African bird, as he was in-
formed by the person who possessed it, that it had
been addressed to him from Surinam, a mistake in
all probability for Senegal. Our own researches
have not enabled us to find any American species
that can possibly be confounded with the African
bird, specimens of which we possess direct from the
Cape of Good Hope. We have therefore, to avoid
further confusion, brought the synonyms of Tem-
minck's two species together.

By Le Vaillant, who first discovered the species
in South Africa, it is stated to inhabit extensive
woods, where it lives upon the ground, merely be-
taking itself to low bushes for concealment or repose,
or to build its nest. This is composed of small
twigs, and the eggs, which are two in number, are
stated to be of a yellowish- white colour. It flies
low, and with a considerable noise of the wings, and

GEOPHTLUS. 213

is difficult to kill, as it generally escapes from the
opposite of the bushes, in which it takes refuge when
pursued, or apprehensive of danger.

In length it measures nearly eleven inches. The
forehead, the cheeks, and the throat are white. The
crown, the neck, and the whole of the under plu-
mage orange-brown, with a purplish tinge, the sides
of the neck in certain lights reflecting golden -green.
On the lower part of the hind neck, and commence-
ment of the mantle, is a large patch or demi-collar
of blackish purple, the feathers terminated with shin-
ing golden-green. The rest of the upper plumage
is brown, with a greenish lustre in certain lights.
Tail with the t-wo middle feathers brown, the re-
mainder on each side with their basal part black,
the tips bluish-grey- Bill bluish-black. Legs and
feet reddish-brown.

The subjects of the four remaining Plates differ in
many respects from all we have yet been engaged
with, but whether they will form a separate division
or the three first will enter among the Peristerinae,
and the Lophyrus alone remain the representative of
another group, we are unable to determine, not pos-
sessing sufficient materials to institute so strict an
analysis as is necessary, or to trace out with preci-
sion the direct affinities of these species, and the si-
tuation they hold in respect to the other groups of
the Columbidse, as well as those of adjoining fa-
milies. The three first we have provisionally in-
cluded in the

214

GENUS GEOPHILUS,— SELBY.

IN their form and habits they approach still nearer
to the typical Gallinaceous Birds than the species
we have just been describing. Their tarsi are long
and covered with hexagonal scales ; their tail short
and rather pendant, their wings concave, short, and
rounded, and their body, as compared with the
typical pigeons, thick and heavy. A striking de-
parture from the general economy of the Colum-
bidee is further observed in their mode of pro-
pagation, the number of the eggs they lay each
hatching not being confined to two, as is seen to
prevail in the groups already described, but extend-
ing to eight or ten, which are incubated upon the
ground, and the young, like those of the true Galli-
naceous Birds, are produced from the egg in such a
state as to be able immediately to follow the parent,
which broods over and attends them like the part-
ridge or domestic fowl. They live entirely upon the
ground, except during the hours of repose, when
they sometimes retire to bushes or the low branches
of trees. They walk and run with great quickness
like the Gallinse, and in fact appear to be the forms
which immediately connect this family with the Pa-

GEOPHILUS. 215

vonidae and Tetraonidae. Although for the present
we have placed the first three under the same ge-
neric head, yet from their distinct geographical distri-
bution, and the difference observed in the bill of
the first, it is more than probable that a further di-
vision will be required.

The first we have to describe is the

216

BLUE-HEADED GROUND PIGEON.

Geophilus ? cyanocephalus.

PLATE XXVII.

Columba cyanocephala, 2. p. 608. sp. 54 W'dgler, Syst.

Av. sp. 112. — Turtur Jamaicensis, Briss. Orn. 1. p. 135.

t. 13. f. 1 Colombe-Galline a cravate noire, Temm. Pig

Fam. Trois. pi. 3.— Id. 8vo. ed. 390 Blue-headed Tur-
tle, Lath. Syn. 4. p. 651. 45 Id. Sup. p. 100.

IN this interesting bird we find a modification in
the form of the bill, not exhibited by any of the spe-
cies already described. It is nearly straight, the up-
per mandible having scarcely any deflection at the
tip, and the under one being without any apparent
angle, and so similar in appearance to that of a cer-
tain species of Turnix, that Temminck observes, the
bill of the one might be substituted for that of the
other, without detection. It has also the whole of
the base of the upper mandible covered with feathers,
an approximation to which we have seen in the Cop-
per-coloured Ground-Dove, in which bird the culmen
or upper part of that mandible is thinly clothed with
small feathers. The tarsi, which are pretty long,
are covered with small hexagonal scales, as in the
two species afterwards to be described ; and the

PLATE 27

GEOPH1LUS CYAN' Of EFIIALUS.
(Blue Headed Groin

l^titivt-1 of Culaa&c.

BLUE-HEADED GROUND PIGEON. 217

wings, which are short, concave, and rounded, indi-
cate but a weak and inferior power of flight. This
bird is a native of the southern islands of America,
and is plentiful in Cuba and Jamaica, in which lat-
ter island it has obtained from its gallinaceous habits
the name of partridge. It lives entirely upon the
ground, where it runs with great rapidity, like the
above-named bird, the neck being drawn in, and the
back forming a curve, by the pendant manner in
which it carries its tail. It nidificates upon the
ground, and lays several eggs, and the young when
hatched soon learn to follow the parent. It has a
deep murmuring note, which is not often heard, the
bird being of a retired and solitary disposition.

In size it nearly equals our common partridge, be-
ing about eleven inches in length. The bill is red-
dish at the base, the tip grey. The tarsi and feet
are red, the former, as we have previously observed,
are covered with hexagonal scales. The head and
chin are of a fine azure-grey blue. The throat, fore
neck, and upper breast are black ; the lower tier of
feathers upon the last named part are tipped with
white, and form a bar of that colour across the
breast. From each corner of the mouth a band of
pure white passes beneath the eyes and meets be-
hind the head below a black occipital bar of a
curved or horse-shoe form. The rest of the plu-
mage, both upper and under, is of a deep bistre
brown, tinged with vinaceous or purplish- red.
The next species that claims our attention is —

218

THE CARUNCULATED GROUND PIGEON.

Geophilus carunculatus.
PLATE XXVIII.

Columba carunculata, Temm. Pig. 8vo. p. 415 Wayler,

Syst. Av. sp. 41 — Le Colombe-Galline, Le VailL Ois.
(TAfric. 5. t. 278.— Colombe-Galline a Barbillon, Temm.
Pig. Fam. Trois. pi. 11.

OF all the species hitherto discovered, there is no
species, Temminck observes, that shews a more de-
cided analogy, or rather affinity, to the true Gallina-
ceous Tribes, both in appearance and manners, than
the subject of the present Plate, and this likeness is
rendered still more striking by the accessory appen-
dages, which ornament the face and throat, and
which bear so direct an analogy to the wattles of
the common domestic fowl. It is a native of South
Africa, and was first discovered by Le Vaillant in
the Namaqua country, and the following detail of its
habits and economy is derived from the interesting
description given by that enterprising and scientific
traveller, in his splendid work on the African birds.
Its affinity to the pigeons, he remarks, is shewn by
the form of its bill, which is modelled exactly after

PLATE 28

GLOFHILUS (. \liriSTCULATUS.

CARUNCULATED GROUND PIGEON. 219

theirs, as also by the nature and texture of its plu-
mage ; but it differs from them, in possessing a
naked red wattle, which hangs pendant below the
bill, in having more elongated tarsi, a rounded body,
and less graceful form, by the manner in which it
carries its tail, which is pendant like that of the Par-
tridge, and lastly, by its rounded wings ; characters,
he adds, which, by bringing it near to the true Gal-
linae, naturally place it between the Pigeons and
these birds, as if to mark and form the passage be-
tween the two groups. It builds its nest upon the
ground in some slight depression, making it of twigs
and the stems of dried grasses, upon which the fe-
male deposits from six to eight reddish- white eggs,
which are incubated alternately by both sexes. The
young, which are evolved from the shell clothed
with a reddish-grey down, are immediately able to
run about and follow their parents, which conduct
and keep them together by a constant and peculiar
cry, arid which brood over them with extended wings,
either to protect them from the chilly airs of night,
or to shelter them from the burning ardour of a mid-
day sun. Their first nutriment consists of the larvae
of ants and dead insects, as well as worms, which
are shewn to them by their parents, and which they
alone devour. As they gain strength, they begin
to look for their own food, and soon learn to pick
up all sorts of grain, berries, insects, &c. They con-
tinue, however, associated in coveys like the Par-
tridge and other Tetraonidse, until nature again

220 CARUNCULATED GROUND PIGEON.

urges them to separate and pair, in order to insure
the propagation of the species.

In size it about equals the Common Turtle, but
is thicker and rounder in the body. The base of
the bill and forehead is covered with a naked red
skin, and the chin is ornamented with a large wattle,
which turns upwards on each side towards the ears.
The head, the cheeks, the neck, and the breast, are
of a purplish-grey, the mantle, the scapulars, and
the wing-coverts are pale grey, the feathers finely
margined with white. The belly and abdomen, the
upper and under tail-coverts, as well as the flanks
and under wing-coverts, are pure white. The tail,
which is short, is rounded, the feathers of a deep
reddish-brown colour, except the exterior feather on
each side, which has the outer web white. The
bill is reddish at the base, the tip black. The legs
are of a purplish-red and covered with hexagonal
scales. The iris is composed of a double circle of
yellow and red. The female resembles the male in
the distribution of her plumage, but the colours are
less pure in tint, and she is destitute of the wattle
upon the throat.

The subject of our next plate is a form equally
interesting and curious. It is

SaUve n!' Uu' hhind of Kir;d>ar.

\

THE NICOBAR GROUND PIGEON.

Geophilus Nicobaricus.
PLATE XXIX.

Columba Nicobarica, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. p. 605. sp. 44.—
Columba Gallus, Wdgler, Syst. Av. sp. 113. — Colombe-
Galline a Camail, Temm. Pig. p. 5. t. ii. Id, 8vo,p. 385.
— Nicobar Pigeon, Edw. t. 339. female. — Lath. Syn. iv.
p. 642, 38.

IN richness and splendour of plumage, this inte-
resting species yields to none of the Columbidse,
though it may not be able to compete in elegance of
form, or gracefulness of carriage, with others belong-
ing to the typical groups. Its heavy and rounded
body, its pendant tail, and concave wings, evidently
shew its situation to be among the species which
lead immediately to the typical Rasores, and this. af-
finity is still further strengthened and confirmed by
its habits, which closely resemble those of the species
we have lately been describing. Its habitual resi-
dence is upon the ground, where it runs with great
celerity, and it is only during night, or the hours of
repose, that it perches upon the lower branches and
limbs of trees.* It makes its nest upon the ground,

* Mr Bennet asserts, in his description of the splendid

222 THE NICOBAR GROUND-PIGEON.

and lays several eggs, and the young, like those of
the preceding species, follow the parent birds soon
after their evolution from the egg. The notes of
this bird consist of low guttural cooings, not nearly
so sonorous or pleasing as those of our Common
Ring Pigeon. Unlike the Columbidse in general, it
shews but little timidity or wildness of disposition,
on which account it is easily rendered tame, and
made an interesting addition to the aviary ; but it
does not appear that any success has hitherto attend-
ed the attempts to propagate it out of the warm cli-
mates of which it is a native. Upon the base of the
upper mandible of the male (and probably confined
to the season of love) is a round fleshy tubercle,
analogous to that we have stated as existing in the
Carpophaga senea, and Carpophaga oceanica, a fact
peculiarly interesting, and which serves to keep up
the connexion between these otherwise widely sepa-
rated groups.

The length of the Nicobar is nearly fifteen inches.
The bill, which is rather slender, and the tip but
little deflected, is about an inch and a quarter long.
The whole of the plumage, with the exception of the
tail, which is pure white, and the quills, which are
deep blackish-blue, with greenish reflections, is of a
rich metallic green, changing with every play of light

aviary of Mr Beale at Macao, that the Nicobar pigeons
44 were usually seen perched upon the trees, even upon the
ioftiest branches. They build their rude nests, and rear
their young upon trees, similar to all the pigeon tribe." —
Bennefs Wand. ii. p. 64.

THE NICOBAR GROUND-PIGEON. 223

into golden green, cupreous, and deep purplish-red.
The feathers upon the neck are long, narrow, and
acuminate, like those of the domestic cock ; their
barbules towards the tip silky and distinct. The
tail is very short and pendant, and nearly square, and
the wings, when closed, reach nearly to its end. The
legs, which are robust, and of moderate length, are
black, and covered with hexagonal scales. The nails
are yellow, slightly curved, and blunt.

Besides the Island of Nicobar, from whence its
trivial name, this species inhabits the Islands of Java
and Sumatra, as well as many others in the great
Archipelago of the Moluccas. The female resembles
the male in the colour of her plumage, but the fea-
thers upon the neck are not so long or narrow, and
she is also destitute of the maxillary fleshy knob.

The last bird we have to describe constitutes the
type of the

224

GENUS LOPHYRUS,— -VIEILLOT.

The characters of which are, — bill rather slender, a
little gibbous towards the tip, the upper mandible
channelled upon the sides. Wings short, rounded.
Tarsi longer than the middle toe, covered with round

HYiM's rnunNATi"
Native of JH\M

2-25

CROWNED GOURA PIGEON.

Lophyrus coronatus — VIEILLOT.
PLATE XXX.

Columba coronata, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 566. sp. 9 — Wag.

Syst. Av. sp. 8 Phasianus cristatus Indicus, Briss. Orn.

i. p. 279. sp. 6. t. 26. f. i — Great Crowned Pigeon, Edw.
t. 338.— Lath. Syn. iv. p. 620.— Columbi Hocco, Le Vaill.

Ois. d'Afr. vi. t. 280 Colombe-Galline Goura, Temm.

Pig. Fam. Trois. PL Enl. \ . Id. ed. 8vo, p. 377.

IN this magnificent and beautiful bird, we observe
a combination of form different from that of the
Ground Pigeons, so lately described, for, instead of
the marked affinity to the typical rasorial families,
the Pavonidae and Tetraonidae, so decidedly exhibit-
ed by these species, both in their mode of life, and
in their deviation from the usual Columbine figure,
we have, in the present instance, an approximation
of structure much nearer that of some of the Cracidcp^
another tribe of birds which constitutes an aberrant
family of the Rasorial Order, and it is on this ac
count, we think, that this bird cannot well be placed
in the same division with the Ground Doves, but must
constitute the type of a separate group. Standing
as the two families of the Columbidce and Cracida

VOL. IX. P

£26 CROWNED GOURA PIGEON.

do, the first commencing, the other completing, the
circle of the Rasorial Order, such a form as that
of the Lophyrus was required to connect the two
extremes ; and in this species we have a beautiful il-
lustration of the manner in which Nature has con-
trived to sustain, in this order of the feathered race,
that circular succession of affinities, which appears
to prevail throughout the whole of animated matter.
In the form of its bill, its voice, and mode of pro-
pagation, it shews its near relation to the Typical
Pigeons more decidedly than the Ground Pigeons
already described ; but its gait, its elevated crest, its
short wings, and lengthened tail, are so much in ac-
cordance with those of the Cracidce^ that Temminck
observes, to make it a Hocco or species of Crax IL
exterior, it would only be necessary to substitute the
hill of the one bird for the other. The Crowned
Goura is a native of many of the islands of the great
Indian Archipelago, being by no means rare in Java
and Bauda. In New Guinea it is abundant, as well
as in most of the Molucca Islands. It inhabits the
forests, and feeds upon berries, seeds, grain, &c. Its
nest is built upon a tree, and, like the majority of
the Columbidse, it lays but two eggs each hatching
The voice of the male is a hoarse murmuring or
cooing, accompanied by a noise, seemingly produced
by the compression or forcible ejection of the air
contained within the thorax, something similar to
that so frequently heard from the turkey, when,
strutting with expanded tail, he pays his court to

CROWNED GOURA PIGEON. 227

the female. Temminck conjectures, from this pe-
culiar noise, that its trachea! artery or windpipe may
probably bear some affinity or resemblance to that
of some of the Cracidae, in which this organ is great-
ly lengthened, and makes certain convolutions before
it enters the lungs. We regret that no opportunity
of examining the internal structure of this interest-
ing bird has offered itself, nor can we find any ob-
servations made by others, which have reference to
this part of its anatomy. By the Dutch it is fre-
quently brought to Europe from their East Indian
possessions, but being of a delicate constitution, and
impatient of cold, it seldom long survives in the hu-
mid and comparatively chill temperature of Holland.
In consequence, all attempts to propagate or render
it available in the poultry -yard have hitherto failed,
which is greatly to be regretted, not more on account
of its external beauty, than for its excellent flavour
as a wholesome and nutritious food.

In size it exceeds all the other Columbine species,
being from twenty-seven to twenty-eight inches in
extreme length. The bill, which is two inches long,
is black ; the tips of the mandibles thickened, and
that of the upper one moderately deflected. The
head is adorned with a large, elevated, semicircular
and compressed crest, composed of narrow straight
feathers, furnished with disunited silky barbules, and
always carried erect. This, as well as the head, the
neck, and all the inferior parts of the body, are aof
pure greyish-blue colour. The back, the scapulars,

228 CROWNED GOURA PIGEON.

and smaller wing-coverts, have the feathers black at
the base, the tips terminated with rich purplish -
brown. The greater coverts are of the same colour,
but with a broad central bar of white, which forms a
conspicuous transverse band across the closed wings.
The quills and tail are of a deep grey, the latter ha-
ving all the feathers terminated with greyish-blue.
The legs are grey ; the tarsi, three inches and a quar-
ter in length, are covered with rounded scales not
closely set, but shewing a whitish margin of bare
skin around each. The toes are strong and rather
short, the scales disposed as in the Typical Pigeons.

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS

REARING, FEEDING, AND MANAGEMENT

DOMESTIC PIGEONS.

OP THE

( UNIVERSITY

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS

REARING, FEEDING, AND MANAGEMENT

DOMESTIC PIGEONS,

AT the conclusion of this very interesting and learned
treatise upon this beautiful class of the feathered race
— one with which we are so intimately familiar — it
has occurred to the Publisher, that a few observations
relating to the breeding, feeding, and rearing of the
pigeon, with some directions respecting the dovecote,
may be esteemed not an unsuitable adjunct. To our
juvenile readers this must be an important matter;
for, where is there a boy, who does not admire and cul-
tivate the pigeon with anxious solicitude, decorating its

232 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

cote with mirrors, and prosecuting all other practices,
whether legitimate or not, for its increase? while to
those of maturer years, the congregation of facts upon
any subject is ever acceptable, when these supersede
the labour of personal investigation and research.

Although, in point of national economy, it may be
doubted whether the cultivation of this group of birds
be profitable, yet from their peculiar beauty and in-
nocent manners, they well deserve the regard of man-
kind. In eastern regions, the dove has always been
venerated ; and even in Christian countries, it has
ever been regarded with delight. Every one is aware
of its being the honoured bearer of the olive leaf to
the prisoners in the ark of the deluge.

But altogether apart from these considerations, it is
very doubtful, whether the pigeon be not as much a
protector as a destroyer of land under cultivation ; for
although there can be no question that these birds
consume and destroy a great deal of grain, yet it must
not be lost sight of, that they also devour a great quan-
tity of the seed of many noxious weeds, which, if per-
mitted to grow, would be more prejudicial to agricul-
ture than all the corn they abstract from the soil or
sheaf, in the spring and autumn.

It is recorded in Mowbray's Practical Treatise,

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 233

184:2, that pigeons will rather fly to a great distance
for corn, than content themselves with other food ; and
that by means of various expedients, they contrive to
acquire these viands fully three quarters in each year,
the remainder of the twelve months being taken up in
the search for the seeds of weeds and bentings.

The gross amount of this consumption of corn has
been computed at 157,500,000 pints, 4,921,875 Win-
chester bushels, the value of which may be estimated
at £1,476,562, 10s.

To this fearful estimate is added the loss to the
country by their picking up grains sown in spring and
autumn, and which are, consequently, prevented from
growing up for the food of man. However, as far as
our own experience and observation enable us to judge,
we are inclined very much to doubt the correctness of
these calculations ; for, with respect to the consumption
of seed sown, it is only that which rests on the surface
which is taken; and if pigeons have any thing like
a proper allowance of food served to them by their
keepers, or a fair chance of the stable or straw-yard,
they do not incline to wander much from home.

In the choice of situation for the dovecote, care
should be taken to select one with a southern exposure,
for the bird delights in warmth, so that the more the

234 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

sun can be made to penetrate into the recesses of their
dwelling the better. The access to the nests, from the
outside, should be as direct and easy as possible ; and
the nests should be free and unconfined, for the pigeon
delights in liberty.

The pigeon being one of that class of birds which
is very regardless of the form of its nest, in so far as
the comfort of itself or offspring is concerned, it is of
much importance to attend to the cleanliness of the
nest before the business of incubation is commenced;
and, at the same time, to place a little straw therein,
both to protect the egg and also the young when hatched.
The attendant should be careful to inspect the apart-
ment, at least once a-week, early in the forenoon, for
the purpose of removing dead birds, eggs which have
not been fortunate, or any other nuisance which may
have accumulated. The apartment should be kept
clean also throughout the year, but more particularly
after the spring and autumn flights, to be afterwards
explained ; and this operation should be set about
quietly and cautiously, in the early part of the fore-
noon, while the birds are absent feeding in the fields.
Upon this, as well as other points, we cannot do better
than quote from a very able book upon this, as well as
upon other subjects connected with rural affairs : viz. —

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 235

Practical Agriculture, &c., by R. W. Dickson, M. D.,
1805.

" It is also of importance in the economy of these
birds, that the floor of the dovecote be nearly upon a
level with the holes where they enter, and that these
holes be not too large or too numerous : the holes where
they form their nests should not be much enclosed, as
pigeons delight in being at liberty. Salt and strong
scents, such as that of assafoetida, are said to be agree-
able to these birds, so as frequently to attach them to
their habitations.

" The pigeon seldom lays more than two eggs, which
are sat upon about twenty days, by the male and female
alternately. They are capable of breeding frequently,
but in general produce only two or three broods or
flights in the year, There are several sorts, but the
common blue pigeon is probably the most productive.
The tumblers are small, but very domestic.

After recommending the harvest flight of pigeons
as the most proper for the purpose of stock, as being
the strongest to withstand the winter season, the author
of the * Experienced Farmer' gives the following direc-
tions on the management of these birds : — In regard to
feeding them, it is advised as only necessary during
the season, between seed-time and harvest, when * it

236 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

should be done by three or four o'clock in the morning ;
as they rise early. If you serve them much later,
they will keep hovering about home, and be prevented
taking their necessary exercise.7 If fed ' the year
round, they will not breed near so well as if forced to
seek their own food ; for they pick up in the fields
what is pleasant and healthy to them ; and from the
beginning of the harvest to the end of seed-time they
find plenty.* They may be fed with tares, grain, or
seeds of any kind.

" Be cautious of not letting the first flight fly to
increase the flock, but let every one of them be taken ;
as these will come in what is called benting-time, that
is, between seed-time and harvest. It is then that
pigeons are the scarcest ; and many of the young ones
would pine to death through weakness during that
season.

" At the latter end of every flight, care should be
taken to destroy all those eggs which were not layed
in a proper time. The proper time for the spring-
flight is in April and May. After the harvest-flight,
cold weather begins to come on, which injures the old
pigeon much if she sits late; and the young will be
good for nothing if hatched.'

"It is very necessary to observe cleanliness in

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 237

the management of a dovecote. Before breeding-
time the holes ought to be carefully examined and
cleaned ; for if any of the young die in the holes in
summer, maggots are soon bred in them ; they become
putrid and emit a disagreeable and unwholesome stench,
very injurious to the inhabitants of the dovecote.
Pigeons are tenacious of their nests, as appears from
the conduct of the wood-pigeon, which will breed for
years in the same tree, and the mother forsakes her
nest with regret ; but, unable to endure the filth and
stench of her dead offspring, she is obliged to quit the
eggs she has laid for a second brood, and the prime of
the season is lost. Every summer, immediately after
the first flight, the nest should be all cleaned out, and
the dung totally taken away, as it breeds filth. But
remember to do this business early in the morning.
The remaining eggs ought likewise to be destroyed,
and a perfectly clean habitation made for the harvest-
flight.

" It is advised * never to go into a dovecote later
than mid-day, but as early in a morning as convenient.
Whatever repairs are necessary, either to the building
or to the nests, should be done before noon : for if you
disturb the pigeons in the afternoon, they will not rest
contentedly the whole night; and the greatest part,

238 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

perhaps, will not enter the cote until the next day, but
will sit moping on the ground; and, if in breeding-
time, either a number of eggs may be spoiled, or se-
veral young ones starved to death/

" Pigeons are supposed to be more productive from
the breeds being crossed, in proof of which a few tame
pigeons were put into a dovecote ; and the consequence
was, that a more early and more numerous hatch of
young were produced than in any of the neighbouring
cotes.*

" These birds have a great antipathy to owls, which
find their way sometimes into dovecotes ; and there is
no getting rid of such troublesome guests but by de-
stroying them. * Rats are terrible enemies to pigeons,
and will soon destroy a whole dovecote. Cats, weasels,
and squirrels will do the same. It will be necessary,
therefore, to examine the dovecote once every week
at least, very minutely/ to see that there are none of
these intruders.

" Pigeons * make an extraordinary good manure,
which, if worked up into a compost, instead of being
used in the present slovenly way, would be of still
more value.' "

We also quote from London's Encyclopedia of Agri-
* Experienced Farmer.

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 239

culture the following valuable observations, directions,
*****

" Of the pigeon (Columba, L.), there are three species,
and many varieties in cultivation. The species are, the
common, ring, and turtle-doves, all natives of Britain.
The varieties of the common pigeon, enumerated by
Linnseus, amount to twenty-one ; but those of the pigeon
fanciers to more than double that number. The ring-
dove (C. palumbus, L.), and the turtle-dove (O. turtur),
with the greater number of the varieties, are cultivated
only by a few persons known as pigeon fanciers ; but
the common pigeon, of different colours, is cultivated
for the table. The flesh of the young pigeon is very
savoury and stimulating, and highly valued for pies;
that of the full aged pigeon is more substantial, harder
of digestion, and in a considerable degree heating.
Black or dark feathered pigeons are dark fleshed, and
of high flavour, inclining to the game bitter of the
wild pigeon. Light coloured feathers denote light and
delicate flesh. The dung of pigeons is used for_taa-
leathers for shoes ; it is also an excellent

manure. Pigeons are now much less cultivated than
formerly, being found injurious to corn fields, and espe-
cially to fields ^)fj)eas. They are, however, very orna-
mental ; a few may be kept by most farmers, and fed

240 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

with the common poultry, and some who breed domestic
fowls, on a large scale, may perhaps find it worth while
to add the pigeon to their number.

" The variety of pigeon most suitable for the common
pigeon-house, is the grey pigeon, inclining to ash colour
and black; which generally shows fruitfulness by the
redness of the eyes and feet, and by the ring of gold
colour which is about the neck.

u The varieties of the fancy breeders are numerous,
and distinguished by a variety of different names, as
carriers, croppers, powters, horsemen, runts, jacobines,
turbits, helmets, nuns, tumblers, barbs, petits, owls,
spots, trumpeters, shakers, turners, finikins, &c. From
these, when differently paired, are bred bastard pigeons ;
thus from the cropper or powter, and the carrier, is
bred the powting horsemen ; from the tumbler and the
horsemen, dragoons, &c.

" In the selection of pigeons for the stocking of a
new cote, care must be taken to procure those of a very
young sort, called squeakers, which being confined to
their future place of residence, and well fed for a few
days, will not be inclined to wander away, while it
will be found next to impossible to domesticate old
birds to any other locality than their own.

" Pigeons sometimes lose themselves, even in the

OF T£E DOMESTIC PIGEON. 241

neighbourhood of their own cote, which is awkward
during incubation, as in a few hours the eggs will be
rendered useless ; but if an accident of this kind hap-
pens after hatching, either of the parents, if one is left,
will be sufficient to bring up the young. If both be
lost, the young birds are easily accustomed to be fed
from the hand, the food being small peas, tares, or
barley, the preference being given to the two former.
Should the birds be only about a week old, they will
require to be fed with softer substances, such as bread
and milk boiled into a pap.

" In breeding, the pigeon lays two white eggs, which
produce young ones of different sexes. When the
eggs are laid, the female sits fifteen days, not including
the three days she is employed in laying, and is re-
lieved at intervals by the male. The turns are gene-
rally pretty regular. The female usually sits from
about five in the evening till nine the next morning ;
at which time the male supplies her place, while she
is seeking refreshment abroad. Thus they sit alter-
nately till the young are hatched. If the female does
not return at the expected time, the male seeks her,
and drives her to the nest ; and should he in his turn
be neglectful, she retaliates with equal severity. When
the young ones are hatched, they only require warmth

242 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

for the first three days ; a task which the female takes
entirely upon herself, and never leaves them except
for a few minutes to take a little food. After this
they are fed about ten days, with what the old ones
have picked up in the fields, and kept treasured in
their crops, from whence they satisfy the craving ap-
petite of their young ones, who receive it very greedily.
This way of supplying the young with food from the
crop, in birds of the pigeon-kind, differs from all others.
The pigeon has the largest crop of any bird for its
size, which is also quite peculiar to the kind. In two
that were dissected by an eminent anatomist, it was
found, that upon blowing the air into the windpipe,
it distended the crop or gullet to an enormous size.
Pigeons live entirely upon grain and water ; these
being mixed together in the crop, are digested in pro-
portion as the bird lays in its provision. Young
pigeons are very ravenous, which necessitates the old
ones to lay in a more plentiful supply than ordinary,
and to give it a sort of half maceration in the crop, to
make it fit for their tender stomachs. The numerous
glands, assisted by air and the heat of the bird's body,
are the necessary apparatus for secreting a sort of pap,
or milky fluid (commonly called pigeon's milk) ; but as
the food macerates, it also swells, and the crop is con-

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 243

siderably dilated. If the crop were filled with solid
substances, the bird could not contract it; but it is
obvious the bird has the power to compress its crop at
pleasure, and by discharging the air, can drive the
food out also, which is forced up the gullet with great
ease. The young usually receives this tribute of affec-
tion from the crop three times a-day. The male, for
the most part, feeds the young female, and the old
female performs the same service for the young male.
While the young are weak, the old ones supply them
with food macerated, suitable to their tender frame ;
but, as they gain strength, the parents give it less pre-
paration, and at last drive them out, when a craving
appetite obliges them to shift for themselves; for
when pigeons have plenty of food, they do not wait
for the total dismission of their young; it being a
common thing to see young ones fledged, and eggs
hatching at the same time and in the same nest.

" The terms applied to pigeons of different ages are,
the youngest, when fed by the cock and hen, squabs,
at which age they are most in demand for pies. Under
six months of age, they are termed squeakers ; at that
age they begin to breed, and then, or earlier, they are
in the fittest state for removal to a strange situation.

" In respect to food, pigeons are entirely granivorous,

244 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

and very delicate and cleanly in their diet ; they will
sometimes eat green aromatic vegetables, but are fondest
of seeds; and tares, and the smallest kind of horse-
beans, is the most suitable food both in point of eco-
nomy and fattening qualities. Pease, wheat, buck-
wheat, and even barley, oats, &c., are also eaten by
pigeons, but old tares may be reckoned their very best
food ; new tares, pease, or beans, are reckoned scour-
ing. Wherever pigeons are kept, the best way to keep
them chiefly at home, and thereby both prevent their
being lost, and their doing injury to corn-crops, is to
feed them well : this is also the only way in which, in
modern times, they will afford abundance of fat and
delicate squabs for the table, which, well fed, they will
do every month in the year, and thus afford a constant
supply of delicate stimulating food. Pigeons are gene-
rally fed in the open air adjoining their cote or house ;
but in inclement weather, or to attach new pigeons to
their home, both food and water should be given inter-
nally. That this may be done without waste, and
without frequently disturbing the birds, two contriv-
ances are in use ; the first is the meat-box or hopper,
from whence grain or pulse descends from the hopper,
as eaten out of a small shallow box ; the next is the
water-bottle, an ovate, long naked bottle, reversed in

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 245

a small basin, to which it serves as a reservoir. Any
bottle will do, but the pigeons are apt to alight on and
dirty such as, when reversed, present a flat top.

" Pigeons being fond of salt, what is called a pigeon-
cat is placed in the midst of the pigeon-house, or in
the open air near it. It seems these birds are fond of
salt and hot substances, and constantly swallow small
stones to promote digestion. The salt-cat is thus com-
posed ; gravel or drift-sand, unctuous loam, the rubbish
of an old wall, or lime, a gallon of each ; should lime
be substituted for rubbish, a less quantity of the for-
mer will suffice ; one pound of cummin-seed, one hand-
ful of bay-salt ; mix with stale urine. Inclose this in
jars, corked or stopped, holes being punched in the
sides, to admit the beaks of the pigeons. These may
be placed abroad. They are very fond of this mix-
ture, and it prevents them from pecking the mortar
from the roofs of their houses, which they are other-
wise very apt to do.

" Cleanliness is one of the first and most important
considerations : the want of it in a dovecote, will soon
render the place a nuisance not to be approached, and
the birds, both young and old, will be so covered with
vermin, and besmeared with their own excrement, that

they can enjoy no health or comfort, and mortality is

c

246 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

often so induced. Mowbray's were cleaned daily,
thoroughly once a week, a tub standing at hand for
the reception of the dung ; the floor covered with sifted
gravel, often renewed.

" Pigeon-houses are of three kinds, small boarded
cases fixed on posts, trees, or against the ends of
houses; lofts fitted up with holes or nests; and de-
tached buildings. The first are generally too small to
contain a sufficient brood, and are also too subject to
variations of temperature ; and the last, on the other
hand, are now-a-days too large, and therefore the most
suitable for the farmer, is a loft or tower, rising from
a building, in which no noisy operation is carried on.
The lofts of any of the farm-buildings, at a distance
from the threshing-machine are suitable, or a loft or
tower over any detached building will • answer well ;
but the best situation of all is a tower raised from the
range of poultry-buildings, where there is such a
range, as the pigeons can thus be more conveniently
treated, and will feed very readily with domestic
poultry. For a tower of this sort, the round form
should be preferred to the square; because the rats
cannot so easily come at them in the former as in the
latter. It is also much more commodious; as, by
means of a ladder, turning round upon an axis, it is

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 247

possible to visit all the nests in the house, without the
least difficulty, which cannot be so easily done in a
house of the square form. And in order to hinder
rats from climbing up the outside of it, the wall should
be covered with tin-plates to a certain height, as about
a foot and a half, which should project out three or
four inches at the top, to prevent their getting up
more effectually. A common mode in France, is to
raise a boarded room, on a strong post, powerfully
braced, the interior sides of which are lined with
boxes for the birds, and the exterior, east and west
sides, with balconies or sills for them to alight on and
enter to their boxes. The north and south sides are
lined with boxes inside, but without openings, as being
too cold on the one front and too warm on the other.

" The interior of the pigeon-house must be lined
with nests or holes, subdivided either by stone, as in
the ancient mural pigeon-houses ; by boards, or each
nest composed of a vase or vessel of earthenware fixed
on its side. Horizontal shelves, divided vertically at
three feet distance, are generally esteemed preferable
to every other mode ; the width of the shelf may be
twenty inches, the height between shelf and shelf
eighteen inches; and a slip of board three or four
inches high is carried along the front of the partitions

248 ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

to keep in the nests. Sometimes, also, a partition of
similar height is fixed in the middle of each three-feet
division, which thus divides it into two nests. This,
Mowbray and Girton concur in recommending as
likely to prevent the young from running to the hen
when sitting over fresh eggs, and perhaps occasioning
her to cool and addle them ; for when the young are
about a fortnight or three weeks old, a good hen will
leave them to the care of the cock, and lay again.
Some prefer breeding-holes with no board in front, for
the greater convenience of cleaning the nests ; but as
the squabs are apt to fall out by this practice, a good
way would be to contrive the board in front to slip up
and down in a groove, by which each nest might be
cleaned at pleasure. As tame pigeons seldom take the
trouble of making a nest, it is better to give them one
of hay, to prevent the eggs from rolling. There are
also straw buckets, made in the form of nests, and also
nests or pans of earthenware. Where pans are used,
it is common to place a brick between them (two
being placed in a breeding hole), for the cock and hen
to alight on ; but on the whole, straw nests are best.
The pigeon-house has two entrances, one a common
sized door for man, either on the ground level, or to
be ascended to by a ladder, as used formerly to be the

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 249

case ; and the other on a rising above the roof, and
consisting of small holes, three or four, by twelve or
fourteen inches for the entrance of the pigeons. A
series of ranges of these are generally placed over each
other, in a boarded front looking to the south, with a
shelf to each range, and surrounded by a row of iron
spikes to protect them from cats. The elevation of
pigeon-houses, as already described, are of endless
variety.

" The breeding holes constitute the fixtures of the
pigeon-house; its utensils are the hopper and bottle
already described, a barrel or box for food, a step lad-
der to reach the nests, and some other articles not pe-
culiar to this department of rural economy. The
pigeon-trap for enticing and entrapping the pigeons of
others, we do not describe."

Although the Persians do not eat pigeons, they ap-
pear to make an extensive and important use of their
dung as manure. See the following quotation from
the same book : —

" The dung of pigeons is so highly prized in Persia,
that many pigeon-houses are erected at a distance
from habitations, for the sole purpose of collecting
their manure. They are large round towers, rather
broader at the bottom than at the top, and crowned by

250

ON THE REARING AND MANAGEMENT

conical spiracles through which the pigeons descend.
Their interior resembles a honeycomb, forming nu-
merous holes for nests; and the outsides are painted
and ornamented. The dung is applied almost entirely
to the rearing of melons, a fruit indispensable to the
natives of warm countries during the great heats of
summer, and also the most rapidly raised in seasons of
scarcity ; and hence the reason, that during the famine
of Samaria, a cab of dove's dung was sold for five
pieces of silver, 2 Kings vi. 25." — Morier's Second
Journey, &c., 141.

" Pigeons in new lodgings are apt sometimes to
forsake their habitations. — Many nostrums have been
recommended to prevent them from doing so; but if
squabs be selected, cleanliness and security attended

OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 251

to, and a salt cot placed in or near the house, there
will be little danger of this taking place. Fumigations,
with highly odoriferous drugs, or even assafoetida, is
also said to attract pigeons to a neglected dovecote, or
attach them to a new one.

" Diseases of Pigeons. — Fancy pigeons, being many
of them monstrous productions, are very subject to dis-
eases. Girton enumerates upwards of a dozen, with
their cures, including the corruption of the egg in the
uterus, from over high feeding; a gorged crop from
voracious feeding ; insects from filthiness in the pigeon
house, and the canker from cocks fighting with each
other. Little can be done in the way of curing any of
these diseases, otherwise than by recurrence to the
proper regimen ; if this does not speedily take effect,
it is better to put the bird hors de peine, both for hu-
manity's sake, and to prevent infection. Fortunately,
the common pigeon, reared for the table, is little liable
to diseases.

" Laws respecting Pigeons. — By the 1st of James,
c. 27, shooting, or destroying pigeons by other means,
on the evidence of two witnesses, is punishable by a
fine of 20s. for every bird killed or taken ; and by the
2d of Geo. III. c. 29, the same offence may be proved
by one witness, and the fine is 20s. to the prosecutor.

252

Any lord of the manor or freeholder, may bu
pigeon-house upon his own land, but a tenant c
do it without the lord's licence. Shooting or t
within a certain distance of the pigeon house, re
the person liable to pay a forfeiture."

Printed by W. H. Lizars, Edinburgh.

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