Part 83

=A.= Tail with a broad terminal band abruptly lighter in color than the basal portion, and with a more or less well-defined blackish band across the middle. Nape with metallic reflections.

a. A narrow nuchal band of white; the metallic feathers beneath this, with their outlines distinct, producing a squamate appearance.

1. =C. fasciata.= Blackish band across the middle of the tail narrow, and badly defined, and concealed by the coverts; terminal portion of the tail much lighter than the basal part. Bill yellow; crissum whitish; hood and anterior lower parts ashy vinaceous-purple; dorsal region ashy.

Bill tipped with black; wing-coverts conspicuously edged with white; back with an olivaceous cast. Wing, 8.80; tail, 6.10; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.13; middle toe, 1.37; outer, 1.05; inner, .94. Hab. Pacific Province of the United States, south to Guatemala …

var. fasciata.

Bill entirely yellow; wing-coverts not distinctly edged with white; back with a bluish cast. Wing, 8.30; tail, 6.20; culmen, .80; tarsus, 1.04; middle toe, 1.27; outer, 1.00; inner, .88. Hab. Costa Rica …

var. albilinea.

2. =C. araucana.= Black band across the middle of the tail as broad as the terminal lighter one, and wholly exposed; terminal portion not lighter than the base. Bill black; crissum deep slate; hood and lower parts deep purplish-vinaceous; dorsal region like the breast. Wing, 8.35; tail, 6.20; culmen, .58; tarsus, 1.13; middle toe, 1.26; outer, .90; inner, .77. Hab. Chile.

b. No nuchal bar of white; metallic feathers of the nape with their fibres blended, producing a soft even surface.

3. =C. caribæa.= Tail much as in C. fasciata, but with a much greater contrast between the nearly equal dark basal and light terminal portions; the former more uniformly dusky, not showing any distinct darker intermediate band. Bill black; hood and lower parts light ashy-pinkish vinaceous; crissum white; dorsal region ashy. Wing, 8.70; tail, 6.90; culmen, .81; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe, 1.28; outer, .90; inner, .88. Hab. Jamaica.

4. =C. rufina.= Terminal light band of the tail narrow, badly defined. Bill black. Forehead, dorsal region, lesser wing-coverts, neck and breast, deep chocolate-purple; forepart of the back with a violet reflection. Other portions mainly ashy. Wing, 7.50; tail, 5.00; culmen, .68; tarsus, .97; middle toe, 1.13; outer, .89; inner, .78. Hab. Brazil, north to Guatemala.

=B.= Tail of a uniform shade throughout.

a. A metallic “cape” on the nape, each feather bordered with black, producing a conspicuously squamate appearance; above this, a broad, transverse, crescentic patch of dark maroon color. No vinaceous tints on the body.

5. =C. leucocephala.= Hood white; metallic cape brassy-green; throat, cheeks, etc., dark plumbeous-slate, like the rest of the plumage. Bill yellow only at the tip. Wing, 7.70; tail, 5.50; culmen, .66; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, 1.25; outer, .85; inner, .83. Hab. Cuba, and south Florida.

6. =C. corensis.= Hood, with remaining portions of head and neck, purplish-vinaceous; metallic cape vinaceous-purple. Bill wholly yellow. Wing, 8.00; tail, 5.70; culmen, .63; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe, 1.25; outer, .86; inner, .83. Hab. Porto Rico; St. Thomas; Santo Domingo; Santa Cruz.

b. No metallic reflections on the nape.

Head and neck, all round, lower parts to the anal region, and a patch on the lesser wing-coverts, reddish chocolate-purple. Rest of plumage slaty-blue, darker on tail and primaries, and more olivaceous on the dorsal region.

7. =C. flavirostris.= Feathers of the forehead reaching forward to the anterior end of the nasal lobe, and wholly covering the cere on top. Culmen much arched. Bill and claws yellow. Wing, 7.80; tail, 5.40; culmen, .52; tarsus, 1.03; middle toe, 1.15; outer, .82; inner, .75. Hab. Middle America, and southern borders of Middle Province of United States, from Arizona and the Rio Grande; south to Costa Rica.

8. =C. inornata.= Feathers of the forehead reaching forward to only about the middle of the nasal lobe, leaving the top of the cere naked; culmen only moderately arched. Bill and claws black. Wing, 9.20; tail, 6.60; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.16; middle toe, 1.47; outer, 1.18; inner, .97. Hab. Jamaica.

1. Ortalida maccalli. Ad., Texas. 2. Columba fasciata. ♂ Cal., 33661. 3. Columba leucocephala. ♂ Fla., 8662. 4. Ectopistes migratoria. ♂ 7115. 5. Columba flavirostris. ♂ Mazatlan, 30893.]

Columba fasciata, SAY.

BAND-TAILED PIGEON.

Columba fasciata, SAY, Long’s Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 10.—BON. Amer. Orn. I, 1825, 77, pl. viii.—WAGLER, Syst. Av. 1827, Columba, No. 47.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 624.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 479, pl. ccclxvii.—IB. Syn. 1839, 191.—IB. Birds Amer. IV, 1842, 312, pl. cclxxix.—TSCHUDI, Fauna Peruana, 1844–46, No. 261.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 92.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 597.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 506. Chlorœnas fasciata, BONAP. Consp. II, 1854, 51. Columba monilis, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 26, pl. x. Chlorœnas monilis, REICH. Icones Av. ccxxvii, fig. 2481.

SP. CHAR. Above ash, inclining to olivaceous on the back, and with a fine bluish cast on the rump, under surface of wings, and sides. The primaries and basal portion of the tail dusky. Larger wing-coverts and secondaries, with primaries, distinctly edged with white; terminal third of tail of nearly the same tint as the wing-coverts, but the basal portion much darker, with a rather indistinct, narrow dusky band between the two shades, a little beyond the tips of the upper coverts. Whole head, lateral and front part of neck, and lower parts to the anal region, ashy vinaceous-purple, lighter, and more pinkish on the abdomen; chin considerably lighter; anal region and crissum white. A narrow half-collar of white across the upper portion of the nape; feathers beneath this dull metallic golden-green, with an occasional bronzy reflection, the feathers somewhat squamate. Bill and feet yellow, the former black at the end; iris red. Length, about 15.00; wing, 8.80; tail, 6.10. Female smaller, and less deeply colored, the purplish tint more ashy; sometimes with the nuchal white band obsolete or wanting; the abdomen whitish, etc.

HAB. Pacific Province of United States, and table-lands of Mexico, to Guatemala. Oaxaca (SCL. 1858, 304); Xalapa, 1859, 369 (CORDOVA, 1856, 359); Guatemala (SALVIN, Ibis, II, 276); Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 93); Vera Cruz, alpine region (SUM. M. Bost. Soc. I, 562).

Specimens—even those from the same locality—vary a great deal in size, particularly as to the bill, and there is also considerable variation in the shade and depth as well as the extent of the purplish tint; this varies from a purplish-chocolate tint to nearly violaceous, and sometimes tinges the ends of the lower tail-coverts; sometimes the back has faint bronzy reflections. Guatemalan skins have the white edgings to the wing-coverts less conspicuous than in northern ones, showing an approximation to the features of var. albilinea of Costa Rica; they also have a shorter bill than California specimens. Oregon birds, on the other hand, have longer bills than the California, and are considerably darker in color.

HABITS. The Band-tailed Pigeon was first met with in Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and described by Say in 1823. It is found from the northern Rocky Mountains westward to the Pacific, and from Central America northward along the whole of the Pacific Coast as far to the north as Washington Territory, and probably portions of British Columbia.

Mr. Townsend, quoted by Audubon, noticed this Pigeon from the eastern spurs of the Rocky Mountains across to the Columbia River, where it was very abundant. He noticed their arrival in very great numbers on the 17th of April, and they continued in large flocks even while breeding. Their breeding-places were on the banks of the river, the eggs were placed on the ground, under small bushes without any nest, where numbers congregated together. The eggs were two in number, and are described as of a yellowish-white color, some inclining to a bluish-white with minute white dots at the larger end.