£72 MR. HEPBURN ON THE WOOD-PIGEON. 



Notes on the Wood Pigeon. By Mr. Archibald Hepburn. 



We have no means of ascertaining with cejtainty, whe- 

 ther or not the Wood Pigeon is indigenous to Scotland, but 

 if we cast a retrospective glance at the physical features of the 

 country and the state of its agriculture, and note the changes 

 which have preceded the settlement of this bird in other 

 districts, I think we shall be entitled to conclude, that it 

 can only be ranked as a colonist, of comparatively recent 

 appearance, even in the south. For the sake of convenient il- 

 lustration, I shall confine my remarks chiefly to the facts 

 connected with the history of the species in East Lothian. 



An adequate supply of food is the first desideratum with 

 every organised being ; and, secondly, a safe retreat from the 

 inclemency of the weather, and for the purpose of rearing 

 its young. If we look at the wretched system of agriculture, 

 called infield and outfield, which prevailed throughout the 

 greater part of last century, and the scanty breadth of tur- 

 nips and red clover, w^hicli constitute so large a proportion of 

 the food of this bird, one cause of his scarcity becomes very 

 obvious. So far back as the middle of the 1 6th century, our 

 primeval woods had almost disappeared, and the various le- 

 gislative enactments respecting the planting of trees were 

 disregarded. About 1650, large plantations of oak, elm, 

 beech, ash, and Scots pine, were formed on Lord Tweed- 

 dale's estate, near Gilford. h\ 1720, the noble woods at 

 Tynningham were planted ; and, in later times, considera- 

 tions of beauty, shelter, and profit, have added greatly to the 

 extent of our woodlands. The grand old woods of England 

 furnish an abundant supply of acorns and beech mast to the 

 pigeons during the winter ; but, notwithstanding all the hap- 

 py ameliorations effected in the climate by judicious plant- 

 ing and draining, both are a most precarious crop in this 

 country ; and, moreover, the beech, so far as I can learn, was 

 only introduced into Scotland about the middle of the 17th 

 century. Turnip hutjbandry, and the cultivation of red clo- 

 ver, were introduced about 1 7 10, but it was not till 20 or 25 



