David Harrington, age 10, of Jackson, Miss., for his questions:

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DOVE AND A PIGEON?

Pigeon is the name given to any birds in the pigeon and dove family. The larger members of the family are usually called pigeons and the smaller ones are called doves. There are about 300 birds in the large pigeon family.

You'll find pigeons and doves living in all parts of the world except in extremely cold regions. Most species live in tropical climates. For example, 24 species of pigeons make their home in Mexico. Only 11 species live in the United States, which has a cooler climate. And only three species are found in their natural surroundings in Canada.

Pigeons have small heads, short necks, stout bodies with short legs and sleek plumage and are characterized by a fleshy protuberance at the base of the bill. They live in trees or on the ground and feed on seeds, fruit and, occasionally, insects.

Doves and pigeons fly rapidly and are noted for their cooing call. They build loose, almost flat nests of twigs, bark, straw and weeds. The female lays one or two tan or white eggs.

Perhaps the best known species of pigeon is the rock pigeon, native to Europe and Asia. The many domestic and fancy breeds of pigeons are derived from this species. The rock pigeon, which is about 13 inches long, is bluish gray above, with black markings on the wings and white hindquarters. Below, it is purplish on the breast and bluish on the abdomen.

Well known breeds of the rock pigeon include the homing pigeon, which can be trained to return to a home site from a distance of about 1,000 miles; the carrier pigeon, a fancy breed characterized by long wings and body; the frill back, characterized by forward curvature of the tips of the plumage feathers, giving a ruffled appearance to the bird; the pouter, characterized by dilatable crop; and the jacobin, characterized by forward curvature of the feathers of the neck, forming a hood behind the head.

Among the common wild pigeons of the U.S. are the band tailed and the red billed pigeons.

Among the pigeons commonly known as doves, the turtledove, common in Europe and Asia but not found in North America, was sacred to the ancient Israelites and most Mediterranean peoples.

Several species of doves are common in all parts of the U.S. The mourning dove, the most common variety, appears in rural areas and is named for its low and plaintive call. It is about 12 inches long with a brown body and bluish gray wings. Its white tipped, short outer tail is banded with black.

The Inca dove, with scaled brown and black plumage and graying pink breast, the ground dove and the white winged dove are native to the extreme southern U.S.

The passenger pigeon, once common throughout the U.S., has been extinct since 1914. Since the extermination of these birds, legal prohibitions against the killing of wild pigeons have been established in many states.