Columba. BIRDS COLUMBADiE. 47 



was lost." Perhaps the stragglers now noticed may be referred to some of 

 these liberated individuals. 



COLUMBAD.E. 



Gen. V. COLUMBA. Pigeon.— Head plain. Bill slen- 

 der, flexible. Legs short. 



7. C. Palumbus. Ring-Dove. — Plumage bluish-grey, with 

 a white patch on each side of the neck. 



Merr. Pin. 175 Will. Orn. 125 — Sibb. Scot. 17 — Perm. Brit. Zool. i. 



29G Temm. Orn. ii. 444. ; E, Quist, Cowshot ; S, Wood-pigeon, or 



Cushat ; W, Ysguthan ; G, Smudan — In woods, common. 



Length 28, breadth 30 inches ; weight 20 ounces. Bill yellowish, reddish 

 at the base. Feet red, claws black. Neck and breast iridescent. Belly whit- 

 ish. Quills 24, the second longest, and the first ten black, edged with white. 

 Tail of 12 feathers. No gall-bladder. Female less, with the white patch on 

 the neck, less distinct. Eggs 2. Nest of a few sticks, loosely put together, 

 on a tree. This bird is stationary, flying in flocks during winter, and feeding 

 on greens, turnips, and young clover or wheat. Easily tamed, but will not 

 breed in confinement. 



8. C. Ocnas. Rock-Dove. — Plumage bluish-grey, neck iri- 

 discent. 



Merr. Pin. 175 Will. Orn. 136 — Sibb. Scot. 17 Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 



290 — Temm. Orn. ii. 445 — W, Colommen ; G, Caluman Common 



in a wild state, in caves on the shore. 



Length 13 J, breadth 22 inches; weight 11 ounces. Bill brown, point 

 dusky. A broad bar across the middle of the greater coverts, and another on 

 the ends of the secondary quills. Tip of the tail black. Pennant, Tem- 

 minck, and some others, seem disposed to exalt the varieties of this pigeon 

 into two species. The C. Oenas has the rump bluish-grey, while the C. livia 

 has it white. But the individuals of this species vary considerably in their 

 colour and markings, and induce us, with Montagu, to view them as consti-. 

 tuting but one species. This species, in a domesticated state, exhibits nu- 

 merous marked varieties, which Willoughby has enumerated in detail. 



9. C. Turtur. Turtle-Dove. — Head and neck cinereous, with 

 a patch of black feathers on the latter, tipt with white. 



Merr. Pin. 175 Will. Orn. 134.— Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 297 Temm. 



Orn. ii. 448. — A summer visitant of England. 



Length 12, breadth 21 inches; weight 6 ounces. A space beneath and be- 

 hind the eye purplish-red. The back is brown, dashed with cinereous ; shoul- 

 ders and coverts black, with reddish margins. Quills dusky, with pale edges. 

 Tail black, tipt with white, the two middle feathers uniformly dusky.— The 

 turtle visits the south of England in spring, returning in September. Inha- 

 bits thick woods. Makes its nest in a tree with sticks, and lays 2 white eggs. 

 Varies in having the whole side of the neck black, with a round spot of white 

 on each feather near the end. 



