Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/507



If the different species of Pigeons and Doves which I have described, have interested you sufficiently to render you desirous of holding further converse with that interesting family, and of examining for yourself, which I sincerely wish you would resolve to do, you may perhaps visit the islands, which, like so many bastions, protect the shores of South Carolina, Georgia, and the Floridas, those spots where, in the calm of every spring morn, the air is rendered balmy by the effluvia of thousands of flowers, each of which rivals its neighbour in the brilUancy of its hues. Stop there, kind reader, and seat yourself beneath the broadly extended arms of the thickly-leaved evergreen oak, and at that joyous moment when the first beams of the svm reach your eye, see the Owl passing low and swiftly over the ground, in haste to reach his diurnal retreat before the increasing light render all things dim to his sight ; observe the leathern-winged Bat, pursuing his undulating course through the dewy air, now deflecting downwards to seize the retiring nocturnal insect, now upwards to pursue another species, as it rises to meet the genial warmth emitted by the orb of day. Listen, — for at such a moment your soul will be touched by sounds, — to the soft, the mellow, the melting accents, which one might suppose inspired by Nature's self, and which she has taught the Ground Dove to employ in conveying the expression of his love to his mate, who is listening to them with delight.

Before I proceed to describe the habits of this interesting bird, allow me to present you with the result of my observations relative to the geo- graphical distribution of the birds of the genus Columba, which are either resident in the United States, or visit them annually.

The Passenger Pigeon ranges over the whole of the United States, excepting perhaps the southernmost portions of the Floridas, and extends to Newfoundland, where it is well known.

The Carolina Dove ranges from Louisiana to the middle parts of the State of Massachusetts, but is never seen in Maine. It reaches up the