Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/483

Rh and its leaves, I thought, correspond with the colour of the birds, while the brilliant hue of its flowers forms a strong; contrast.

CoLUMBA LEUcocEPHALA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 281. — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 594 Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 119.

White-Headed Pigeon, Columba leucocephala, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 15. fig. 1 Nuttall, Manual, part. i. p. 625.

Adult Male. Plate CLXXVII. Fig. 1.

Bill straight, of ordinary length, rather slender, compressed; upper mandible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, where it is straight in its dorsal outline, convex towards the end, with a sharp-edged, declinate, rather obtuse tip ; lower mandible with the sides sloping outwards, the angle near the end, the edges sharp, the tip rounded. Nostrils medial, oblique, linear. Head small and compressed, neck of ordinary length, body full. Feet short, strong ; tarsus very short, rounded, with two anterior rows of large hexagonal scales ; toes scutellate above, marginate, the hind-toe smallest, the two lateral nearly equal, the middle toe much larger ; claws of moderate size, compressed, arched, rather acute.

Plumage rather compact above, blended beneath, on the hind neck strong, with metallic gloss. Wings long, the third quill longest, the second almost equal, the first not so long as the fourth, the second, third, fourth, and most of the other primaries sinuate on the outer web, towards the end ; the secondaries broad and rounded. Tail rather long, even, of twelve broad slightly rounded feathers.

Bill carmine at the base, bluish-white at the end. Iris yellow. Feet carmine ; claws greyish-yellow. The general colour is dusky greyish- blue, paler beneath, the quills and tail-feathers darker. The whole up- per part of the head is pure white ; the upper part of the hind neck rich chocolate-brown, the lower part and sides green, changing to gold-colour, each feather margined externally with deep black.

Length 14| inches, extent of wings 23^ ; bill along the back j^g, alono- the edge ^i ; tarsus 1^^, middle-toe and claw 1||.

Adult Female. Plate LXXVII. Fig. 2.

The female differs from the male only in having the tints a little duller and lighter.

Length 14 inches.