26 C0LTJMB1DÆ.
GOLUMBIDÆ.
GOLUMBÆ,
ÉCTOPISTES-MIGRATORIUS
THE PASSENGER PIGEON.
Eftqpisbes, migr<itoriu$±
Ectopistbs, Render Wings rather
elongated, H t e p j pB I B i Tail long,and. extremely
cuneat'e. Tarsi very »ho*t, half covered ..mterioily hy f a th e r s ; antenor
T h e Amebi&mW sseeWb V in o 's wasjncljidei'in the first
EAitioaS this work on H H S the occurrence of a
single specimen recorded1 hy'Dr. Fl'einmg/in His ‘Hilary
British Animals,’ p. M v a s having J& n “ shot while
perched' on a wall m'lHe ijcigHbourHood of a pigeon-house,
*-dj>luW&9 migratoria, Linn^ns, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12^i p*285 (T76i>)-
j^ ^ ^ peaTJlOTiTnal. iii.*p 362 (1827)'®**
at Westhall in the parish of Monymeal, Fifeshifre, the 81st
of December, 1825. The feathers were quite fresh and
entire, like those of a wild bird.” To this inrthe 2nd and
3rd Editions.was added the record of another, which was sent
to Mr. John Norman, of Royston, for preservation, the follow*
ing notice of the occurrence being contributed by' Mr. Hale
Wortham. This bird (nowin the Saffron Walden Museum) was
obtained between Royston and Chishill, early in the month
of July, 1844, by the sons of the tenant of the'farm called
Known’s Folly, about two miles east of Royston. When the
lads first saw the bird it appeared so much exhausted1 that they
could have knocked it down'with a pole, if they had had one’;
they, however, fetched'a.gun and; shot iti When examined,
the crop was quite, empty, but in the. stomach there were
some few seeds, resembling cole? seed; and a‘few small stones,
but no barley or any traces?of artificial food; -' The*plumage
was perfect, and neither'the wings, the Itaii^hfor 'the'legs
exhibited any sign that the bird had been in confinement.
Of thei correctness of the identificationmf -these.* two exam-»
pies there can be no question; but it will b>e/iAserve’d
that in neither case I does the date ofidhe occurrence corr^T
spond with that of the usual periods of migration. " More-;
over, although there is nol proofAhat .Passenger Pigeons
were brought over to this country prior to 1825,:iyet'Audubon
states that in March, 1830, he bought' about 350 of these
birds in the market ; of -New York, and‘carried most of them
alive to England, distributing'.them amongst ■ several nobler
men (Orn. Biog. i. p. 326); thus' shewing that there was
then no difficulty in bringing them over $ and; as a matter of
fact, they have subsequently been imported with frequency.
The next instance is recorded by Thompson in the * Birds
of Ireland,’ idi. p. 443, in which ;_he. .quotes the following
letter from Mr. R. D. Fitzgerald, Junr., writing frem Tralee
in July 1850 |p | I had in my possession, about two years
ago, a Passenger Pigeon which was caught near this town
when unable to ffiy from fatigue. From this circumstance
there can, I think, be no doubt that. it;teame direct from
America, as a bird of its powers of flight would not have