_Pigeons sauvages d'un rouge roussastre_ Le Sieur D.B., Voyages aux Iles Dauphine ou Madagascar, etc., p. 171 (1674--Bourbon).
Talking of Wild Pigeons, "Le Sieur D.B." tells us that there were on the island of Bourbon "others of a russet red colour, a little larger than European pigeons, with the beak larger, red at base near the head, the eyes surrounded by a fiery colour, as in the pheasants. At a certain season they are so fat 'qu'on ne leur voit point de croupion;' they taste very good."
This passage cannot be meant for a turtle-dove, but the description of the bill and surrounding of the eyes shows that it refers to a form allied to _Nesoenas mayeri_. The latter, however, is not entirely russet red, but the head, neck, underside and back are creamy white, washed with a greyish-rose colour. Therefore the bird mentioned by Le Sieur D.B. was evidently a representative of N. _mayeri_ or Bourbon. I name it in memory of Monsieur Dubois, who was the author of the Voyages of the "Sieur D.B."
_Ectopistes_ Swainson, Zoological Journal III p. 362 (1827--Partim! _Columba speciosa_ and _C. migratoria_ mentioned as types, but ten years later the genus _Ectopistes_ was restricted to _C. migratoria_ by the same author).
Tail very long and excessively cuneate, the central rectrices sharply pointed. First primary of the wing longest. Tarsus very short, in front half covered with feathers. Now, only the Passenger Pigeon is included in this genus, while formerly the _Zenaidura carolinensis_ auct. used to be associated with it.
_Columba macroura_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. X p. 164 (1758--Ex Catesby, Carolina I p. 23, pl. 23 [1754]. "Habitat in Canada, hybernat in Carolina." Regarding the necessity of accepting this name see Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington XIX p. 42, and Auk 1906, pp. 474, 475. The conclusions of Messrs. Bangs and Allen are perfectly correct).
_Columba canadensis_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. XII, p. 284 (1766--Ex Brisson, Orn. I p. 118. Habitat in Canada. Cf. note of Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXI, p. 369).
_Columba migratoria_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. XII p. 285 (Ex Frisch, pl. 142, Kalm., Brisson I, p. 100, Catesby. "Habitat in America Septentrionali copiosissima ..."); Wilson, Amer. Orn. I p. 102, pl. XLIX (1808); Temminck & Knip, Pigeons I, seconde fam., pls. 48, 49 (1808-11); Audubon, Orn. Biogr. I, p. 319 (1831); Baird, Brewer & Ridgway, Hist. N.A.B., Land-Birds III, p. 368, pl. 57, 4 (1874).