The Wild Turkey has never advanced into Ontario much beyond the southern boundary, the climate being evidently too severe, and the locality from other causes perhaps not very attractive. The few which still remain are more hunted as they become more rare, and to all appearance the day is not far distant when this valuable game bird will be sought for in vain in the Province of Ontario.

In the south a second species is found which is believed to be the parent of the domestic stock. It is more of a southern bird, being found chiefly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and southward.

GENUS ECTOPISTES SWAINSON.

128. ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS (LINN.). 315.

Passenger Pigeon.

Adult-male-Dull blue above with olivaceous tinge on back, below dull purplish-red, whitening on vent and crissum; sides of neck golden and ruby; some wing-coverts black-spotted; quills blackish, with slaty, whitish and rufous edging; middle tail-feathers bluish-black, the others white or ashy, the inner webs basally black with chestnut patch; bill black; feet coral-red; female and young duller and more brownish or olivaceous above, below dull grayish, with a tawny tinge anteriorly, or quite gray; very young have the feathers skirted with whitish; length, 15-17; wing, 7-8; tail about the same.

HAB. Eastern North America, from Hudson's Bay southward, and west to the Great Plains; straggling westward to Nevada and Washington Territory.

Nest on bushes or small trees, loosely built of twigs.

Eggs, 1 or 2; pure white.

As its name implies, this is a migratory species, but it has not, like many others, a regular migratory course which it instinctively follows year after year in the same direction. On the contrary, the movements of the Wild Pigeon are quite irregular, and guided only by the instinct which directs the birds in their search for food. A few straggling pairs are still

1

found in the backwoods in Southern Ontario where they probably breed, but the rising generation of sportsmen can have but inadequate conceptions of the vast flocks of pigeons which used in former years to pass over Hamilton.

They were annually looked for in April-the first who observed them circulated the news, "The Pigeons are flying," and early in the morning a regular fusilade was heard all along the edge of the mountain, where at daylight the gunners had taken up their stand at such points as the flocks were likely to pass. These annual migrations seemed to attain attain their maximum in 1854, "the year of the cholera." During that season, from the middle of April till the end of June, flocks could be seen in every hour of every day passing to the west. The summer was unusually warm, and as the heat increased the birds seemed weak and languid with scarcely enough energy left to rise above the houses. Vast numbers were killed, till, fortunately for the birds, a rumor got abroad that eating too many pigeons caused the cholera, after which they were allowed to pass on their way unmolested.

After that year the flocks rapidly decreased in number, till at present the annual migrations have entirely ceased.

The food of the species consists chiefly of beech nuts, wild berries, and seeds of different kinds. These disappear as the country comes more under cultivation, and the pigeons seek the less settled districts, in search of their favorite fare. At present we hear of them being exceedingly abundant in the valley of the Upper Missisippi, and being quite hardy, they probably extend up north into the "Great Lone Land."

Those who wish to see such flocks of pigeons as used to pass over Ontario will have to follow them there, as, in all probability, they will never be seen here again.

GENUS ZENAIDURA BONAPARTE.

129. ZENAIDURA MACROURA (LINN.). 316.
Mourning Dove.

Brownish-olive, glossed with blue on the crown and nape; below purplish-red, becoming tawny white on the vent and crissum ; neck metallic

golden; a velvety-black spot on the auriculars and others on the wingcoverts and scapulars; middle tail feathers like back, the rest ashy-blue at the base, then crossed by a black bar, then white or ashy-white; bill very slender, black; feet carmine; the female and young differ as in the wild pigeon; length, 11-13; wing, 5-6; tail, 6-7.

HAB. North America, from Southern Maine, Southern Canada, and Oregon, south to Panama and the West Indies.

Nest usually in a tree or bush, sometimes on a log or on the ground, composed mostly of twigs.

Eggs, 2; pure white.

The Mourning Dove breeds sparingly throughout Southern 'Ontario, but is more common farther south. It feeds in the open fields on berries, buckwheat, and the seeds of certain weeds, but on being disturbed seeks shelter in the nearest woods.

It is a gentle, timid species, and as it does not occur with us in sufficient numbers to make it worth following, it is seldom disturbed. It is one of the most difficult birds the collector undertakes to handle, the skin being so tender that should the bird be brought down even from a moderate height the fall is almost sure to burst the skin and destroy the specimen. For the same reason the greatest care is necessary when preparing the skin for the cabinet.

ORDER RAPTORES. BIRDS OF PREY.

SUBORDER SARCORHAMFHI.

FAMILY CATHARTIDE.

AMERICAN VULTURES.

AMERICAN VULTURES.

GENUS CATHARTES ILLIGER.

130. CATHARTES AURA (LINN.). 325.

Turkey Vulture.

Blackish-brown; quills ashy-gray on their under surface; head red; feet flesh-colored; bill white. Skin of the head corrugated, sparsely beset with bristle-like feathers; plumage commencing in a circle on the neck; tail rounded. Length, about 2 feet; extent, 6; wing, 2; tail, 1.

HAB. Temperate North America, from New Jersey, Ohio Valley, Saskatchewan region, and Washington Territory southward to Patagonia. Casual northward on the Atlantic coast to Maine.

Breeds generally in communities. Nest on the ground, or in a hollow log or stump.

Eggs, usually 2; creamy white, spotted and blotched with different

shades of brown.

So far as I am aware, the Turkey Buzzard has been observed in Ontario, only in the south-western portion of the Province.

Mr. Wagstaff, in the letter already quoted, says: "Turkey Buzzards are frequently seen in Essex sailing around in search of carrion." I once saw it at Baptiste Creek some years since, but have not heard of it being seen farther east. Dr. Coues says: "This species has a curious habit of playing. possum' by simulating death when wounded and captured, the feint being admirably executed and often long protracted."

SUBORDER FALCONES. VULTURES FALCONS, HAWKS, BUZZARDS, EAGLES, KITES, HARRIERS, ETC.

FAMILY FALCONIDÆ. VULTURES, FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC.

SUBFAMILY ACCIPITRINÆ. KITES, BUZZARDS, HAWKS, GOSHAWKS, EAGLES, ETC.

GENUS ELANOIDES VIEILLOT.

131. ELANOIDES PORFICATUS (LINN.). 327.

Swallow-tailed Kite.

Head, neck and under-parts white; back, wings and tail lustrous black; feet greenish blue, claws pale. Length, female, 23-25; wing, 16-161; tail, 14: male a little smaller.

HAB. Southern United States, especially in the interior, from Pennsylvania and Minnesota southward, throughout Central and South America; westward to the Great Plains. Casual eastward to Southern New England. Accidental in England.

Nest on a tree; constructed of sticks, hay, moss, etc.

Eggs, 4 to 6; whitish, blotched and spotted with chestnut-brown.

In the course of its extensive wanderings, this bold, dashing Kite has been known to visit Ontario. In the List of Birds of

Western Ontario mention is made of a pair having spent a summer about eight miles north-west of London, and there is also a record of one having alighted on the top of a flagstaff at Ottawa, when it was closely examined through a glass and satisfactorily identified.

The food of this species consists chiefly of snakes, lizards, grasshoppers, locusts, etc., which not being abundant in Ontario readily accounts for the absence of the birds. According to Audubon the Swallow-tailed Hawk feeds chiefly on the wing, and having pounced on any prey on the ground, rises with it and devours it while flying. "In calm weather," he farther observes, "they soar to an immense height, pursuing the large insects called Mosquito Hawks, and performing the most singular evolutions that can be conceived, using their tail with an elegance peculiar to themselves."

GENUS CIRCUS LACEPEde.

132. CIRCUS HUDSONIUS (LINN.). 331.

Marsh Hawk.

Adult-male-Pale bluish-ash, nearly unvaried, whitening below and on upper tail-coverts; quills blackish towards the end. Length, 16-18; wing, 14-15; tail; 8-9; female larger, above dark-brown streaked with reddishbrown, below the reverse of this ; tail banded with these colors; immature male is like the female though redder, but in any plumage the bird is known by its white upper tail-coverts and generic characters.

HAB. North America in general, south to Panama.

Nest on the ground; composed of twigs and dried grass.

Eggs, 4 to 5; pale greenish-white, spotted or blotched with light brown. In Ontario the Marsh Hawk in the red plumage is a well known bird, but in the blue phase it is seldom seen. It arrives from the south in April as soon as the ice is gone, and from that time till November, it may usually be seen coursing over the marshes and moist meadows in search of its food, which consists of mice, small birds, snakes, frogs, worms, etc. It breeds sparingly at the St. Clair Flats, becoming quite numerous in the fall on the arrival of those which have bred