With characters essentially as in _Columbæ_ (exclusive of those
peculiar to _Diduncudidæ_ and _Dididæ_). Plumage without
after-shafts; the feathers with thickened, spongy rhachis loosely
inserted in the skin. Head small, completely feathered, excepting
sometimes a circumorbital space. Tarsi naked or only feathered a
little way above. Tail of twelve feathers, or lengthened,
cuneate, and of fourteen. (Hallux not perfectly incumbent in
_Starnænas_.) … _Columbidæ_.