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sufficiently large and plump to afford a good Sunday-dinner. They are then 

 what epicures would call " excellent eating," but become very tough and tasteless 

 after a few years have passed over their heads. 



Persons little conversant with the habits of birds would climb up to every nest 

 they saw, in order to ascertain whether or not it contained eggs or young ; but if 

 the slightest portion of the egg-shell is to be seen under the tree, neither will be 

 found in the nest ; should it, however, contain the latter, the droppings of the 

 young birds are mostly to be seen, either outside the nest, or on the ground. 

 After a few days, these become formed into a solid crust, which prevents the 

 young from falling out, at the time when they begin to be restless. When we 

 consider the flat formation of the nest, it becomes evident that without this " won- 

 derful provision of Nature," the young birds would frequently be precipitated to 

 the ground. 



The impossibility of taming this bird and of domesticating it, in the manner of 

 the Rock Pigeon, has been often mentioned, but I should imagine this statement 

 has either been copied from other authorities, or the experiment has not been pro- 

 perly tried. Two years ago I reared a male Ring Pigeon from the time when it 

 would have left the nest, always supplying it with green peas, beans, &c, until it 

 was able to feed itself. When full grown, I turned it out and fed it with my other 

 dovecot Pigeons, with which it constantly remained several months, except on one 

 occasion, when it flew off to a considerable distance, but returned, to my surprise 

 after an absence of a few hours. It found some difficulty in keeping up, on the 

 wing, with the tame Pigeons (several of which were tumblers), as wild Pigeons are 

 not accustomed to turn rapidly and frequently in the air. This bird sickened and 

 died after I had possessed it six months, and I have not since had an opportunity 

 of renewing the experiment ; but doubt not it would succeed with common care. 



The Ring Pigeon is an extremely handsome bird, the metallic hues of the 

 head and neck contrasting finely with the white patches on either side of the neck. 

 The feathers of the tail are considerably spread when the bird rises from the 

 ground. The colours of the Ring Pigeon are so well known, that I shall not 

 fatigue the readers of the Naturalist with a recital of them. 



THE SWIFTFOOT. 

 Extract of a Letter from James Wilson, Woodville, Edinburgh. 



I have derived both pleasure and instruction from the perusal of the first 

 number of The Naturalist, which contains some interesting facts accurately 

 stated. From the favourable impression the work has produced upon me, I am 



