PIGEON (OF. pigeon, pi pion, Fr. pigeon, It. piecione, pippione, pigeon, from Lat. pipio, squab, young bird, from pipire, to chirp, onomatopoetic in origin). A name applied, like dove (q.v.), to all members of the family Columbida-. Al though members of the group differ greatly in size and color, with a few exceptions they are easily recognized. They are chiefly medium-sized or rather large birds. Most of those of tem perate regions are plainly colored with gray. brown, or slate, and some black and white. but some of the tropical forms show brighter shades of blue and purple; while the fruit-pigeons of the far Orient are gorgeous in green. yellow, orange, red, violet. and blue. The wings are usually long and pointed: the tail more or less elongated. The crop is large and double: during the breeding season it becomes glandular and secretes a milky fluid upon which the young are in part fed, or at any rate it moistens the food given them by their parents. The plumage of pigeons is generally very den-se. quite smooth, often reflecting metallic lustres: the feathers entirely lack the aftershaft. Pigeons are monogamous, and the birds seem much attached to each other, and share mutually the labors of nest-building, incubating, and caring for the young. The nests are always flimsy structures of a few twigs in a tree, and the eggs, almost always two in number. are pure white. The young are naked and helpless when hatched. Pigeons are vegetarians. and eat fruit. grain. seeds, and the like, and are therefore often destructive in cultivated fields. Their notes are soft, low, and rhythmic—well described as 'coo ing.' The flesh of most species is good eating, and they are ranked game-birds and are much hunted. The flesh is nutritious, and that of the young. or 'squabs,' from twenty to twenty-live days old. is particularly delicate, and in some parts of the United States great numbers of domesticated doves are reared for market. One establishment near Los Angeles, Cal., kept in 1901 more than 10.000 to supply the demand for this delicacy.
More than 300 species of pigeon are known, of which nearly or quite half are the ,,o-ealled fruit-pigeons of the East. The geographical distribution of the pigeons, living and extinct. suggests some of the most interesting, inquiries in zoitlogy. One interesting fact is that pigeons are generally absent from regions where monkeys abound. as these nimble thieves rob their open, unprotected nest; so persistently that the two races of animals cannot dwell in the same dis trict. Twelve species have been taken within the boundaries of the United States. hut eight of these are West Indian or Mexican species, found only occasionally along our southern boundary. The remaining four are the little ground-dove (qx.) : the common 'mourning' or Carolina dove (Zenaidura abundant throughout temperate North America; the band-tailed pigeon (Columba faseiatal. a large stout species., with
a noticeable black bar across the bluish-ash tail, common from the Rocky Mountains to the Pa cific; and the formerly very numerous 'wild' or `passenger' pigeon.
The North American wild pigeon (Eelopistrs niigrntor•ius) is especially interesting from the marvelous numbers composing its flocks before the settlement of the interior of the country caused its almost total disappearance. it is a large, slender bird, with a small head, notched beak. turned at the base, short strong legs with naked feet. a long acuminate tail. and very long, pointed and powerful wings. It is a beautiful bird. of very graceful form and finely colored plumage. and formerly was found in almost all parts of North America. It is not, properly speaking, a bird of passage. as apparently its movements arc consequent on the failure of a supply of food in one locality and the necessity of seeking it in another. Its power of flight is very great. The nest of the passenger pigeon consist; of a few dry twigs placed in a fork of the branches of a forest tree. and contains two eggs. They breed two or three times in a season. Although both the bird and its nest are rarities now. only isolated colonies remaining in the less settled parts of the country. during the early part of the nineteenth-century incredible n hers of pigeons were wont to roost at night and nestle in certain breeding-places in the forest: of the Mississippi Valley, where sometimes 100 or more nests were often seen in a single tree. These great breeding places extended over a tract of forest, not less than forty miles in length. Flocks of pigeons were often seen flying at a great height in dense columns, eight or tell miles long: and cal culations made by careful observers agreed that in some of their great migrations the column, a mile broad. was more than 150 miles long. The roosting-places were correspondingly extensive. The noise of wings and of cooing voices drowned the report of guns. The multitudes which settled on trees broke down great branches by their weight. so that it was dangerous to pass beneath. They crowded together. alighting one upon an other, till they formed solid masses like hogs heads, and great numbers were killed by the breaking of branches.. The inhabitants of the neighboring country would assemble, shoot thew, knock them down with poles. stifle them by means of pots of burning sulphur. cut down trees in order to bring them in great numbers to the ground, eat them fresh, salt them. and bring hogs to fatten on them. Wolves, foxes, lynxes, cougars, bears, raccoons. opossums, polecats, eagles. hawks, and vultures congregated to share the spoils.