"The breeding of the Wild Pigeons, and the places chosen for that purpose, are points of great interest. The time is not much influenced by season, and the place selected is where food is most plentiful and most attainable, and always at a convenient distance from water. Forest trees of great height are those in which the Pigeons form their nests. Thither the countless myriads resort, and prepare to fulfil one of the great laws of nature. At this period the note of the Pigeon is a soft 'coo-coo-coo-coo,' much shorter than that of the domestic species. The common notes resemble the monosyllables 'kee-kee-kee-kee,' the first being the loudest, the others gradually diminishing in power. The male assumes a pompous demeanour, and follows the female, whether on the ground or on the branches, with spread tail and drooping wings. The body is elevated, the throat swells, the eyes sparkle. He continues his note, and now and then rises on the wing, and then flies a few yards to approach the fugitive and timorous female. Like the Domestic Pigeon and other species, they caress each other by billing, in which action the bill of one is introduced transversely into that of the other, and both parties alternately disgorge the contents of their crops by repeated efforts. These preliminary affairs are soon settled, and the Pigeons commence their nests in peace and harmony. They are composed of a few dry twigs, crossing each other, and are supported by forks of the branches. On the same tree from fifty to one hundred nests may frequently be seen; I might say a greater number, were I not anxious that, however wonderful my account of the Wild Pigeon is, you may not feel disposed to refer it to the marvellous. The eggs are two in number, of a broadly elliptical form, and pure white. During incubation the male supplies the female with food. Indeed, the tenderness and affection displayed by these birds towards their mates, are in the highest degree striking. It is a remarkable fact that each brood generally consists of a male and a female. The young are fed by the parents in the manner described above; in other words, the old bird introduces its bill into the mouth of the young one in a transverse manner, or with the back of each mandible opposite the separations of the mandibles of the young bird, and disgorges the contents of its crop. As soon as the young birds are able to shift for themselves they leave their parents, and continue separate until they attain maturity; by the end of six months they are capable of reproducing their species.