_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).
[Illustration: _Columba fasciata._]
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.
These birds feed on the berries of the black-elder and the buds of the
balsam poplar. When sitting on the trees, they huddle close together in
the manner of the Carolina Parrot, and many may be killed at a single
discharge. Their flesh is said to be tender, juicy, and fine eating.
Mr. Nuttall states that this Pigeon is always in flocks, and in Oregon
keeps only in the thick forests of the Columbia and the Wahlamet, and
during the summer is more particularly abundant in the alluvial groves
of the latter river, where he constantly heard its cooing, and saw
it in large flocks, feeding on the berries of the elder, the _Cornus
nuttalli_, and the seed-germs and young pods of the balsam poplar. Its
call is somewhat similar to that of the Carolina Dove, but is readily
distinguishable, is uttered at the usual intervals, and is repeated an
hour or two at a time, chiefly in the morning and evening. It remains
on the lower part of the Columbia nearly the whole year, feeding on the
berries of the tree cornel, moving south only in the severity of winter.
Mr. Salvin found this Pigeon at Volcan de Fuego, in Guatemala, at an
elevation of six thousand feet, and at Coban. It was quite common in the
high forests of the Volcano.
Dr. Woodhouse met with small flocks of these Pigeons in different parts
of New Mexico, and especially in the San Francisco Mountains, now
included within the limits of Arizona.
This species was found at Los Nogales, in Mexico, July, 1855, by Dr.
Kennerly, and at New Leon by Lieutenant Couch. Dr. Kennerly states that
these beautiful birds were often observed in the valleys of the Santa
Cruz and Los Nogales Rivers, as well as among the oaks on the adjacent
hills. In the month of June they were found in small flocks of four or
five, rarely more. When flying, the wings often caused a flapping noise,
similar to that made by the domestic Pigeon.
Dr. Newberry, in his Report on the zoölogy of Colonel Williamson’s
route, states that he met with this Pigeon at several points of his
journey. He speaks of it as an attractive bird, about the size and with
many of the habits of the domestic Pigeon. At McCumbers, northeast of
Fort Reading, the first individual was seen and killed by one of his
party. In that region they were not rare, and during the season of
acorns they subsist on those of the scrub-oak, which abounds in that
vicinity. On the Columbia they were seen in pairs, and near the Dalles
might readily be mistaken for domestic doves.
Dr. Suckley found this Pigeon a very common bird in Washington
Territory, especially west of the Cascade Mountains. He saw but a single
flock containing five individuals east of those mountains. In 1856,
the first birds of this species that arrived in the spring made their
appearance about the 15th of May, which he found to be their customary
time of arrival. One or two individuals were first seen, and within two
or three days thereafter the main body of the migration followed. A
small number remained throughout the summer to breed, the rest proceeded
farther north. Those that remained generally made their nests in the
thick fir forests near water. During the summer they subsisted on wild
cherries and other berries, and later in the season, in the settled
parts of the country, on grain. About the first week in September
large flocks congregated on the stubble-fields in the vicinity of Fort
Steilacoom, and for two or three weeks thereafter their numbers were
daily augmented by arrivals from the north. Some of the flocks that he
saw in September, he states, must have contained at least a thousand
individuals. He was told that on the cultivated districts on Cowlitz
River, at the same season, they were in still greater numbers. By the
5th of October all had suddenly disappeared, except a few stragglers,
generally young birds. In their flights, Dr. Suckley states, they are
not quite as compactly crowded as in the case of the Passenger Pigeon.
During the summer, while they were breeding, their cooing and calls
could be heard quite a long distance. The name of this bird in the
Nisqually language is “Hubboh,” in imitation of their call. In the
autumn these birds are said to be excellent eating.
According to Dr. Cooper, these Pigeons arrive at the Columbia River in
April, and frequent all the forests of the Territory until the end of
October, when they retire south. They keep about the borders of prairies
and clearings, and frequently do much damage to fields of grain, though
never found in such immense numbers as the common Passenger Pigeon east
of the Mississippi. In June they lay two white eggs about the size of
those of the House Pigeon, on the ground near streams or openings, and
without constructing any nests. During the summer they were observed to
feed upon wild peas, wild cherries, and other wild fruits and berries,
which are very abundant. Later in the season they seem to depend upon
acorns and other nuts. Their cooing is very much like that of the common
Pigeon. He saw none east of the Cascade Range.
Mr. Ridgway did not meet with this Pigeon in his route from the Sierra
Nevada eastward to the Rocky Mountains, along the line of the 40th
parallel, and it is supposed not to occur in that latitude except near
the Pacific Coast.
An egg of this Pigeon, given me by Dr. Holden, of Stockton, and obtained
in the Coast Range, is oval in shape, equally rounded at either end, and
of a dull white. It measures 1.49 inches in length by 1.15 in breadth.
Another, in the Smithsonian collection, measures 1.55 by 1.20 inches.
Columba leucocephala, LINN.