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round, and meet at some well-known rendezvous, where the male often commence* 

 his delightful note as soon as he has settled. 



This note, if I remember rightly, invariably consists of three strains, and a 

 short note at the end. The whole ditty may be written thus : coo coo ; coo cod 

 coo ; coo coo coo, coo coo ; cod. The stress is laid on the second syllable of 

 each strain, which consists, musically speaking, of but one note. Delightful as 

 the Ring Pigeon's love-song sounds at a distance, it is astonishing how rough and 

 hoarse it becomes on a nearer approach. The Ring Pigeon begins to coo about 

 the middle, or towards the end of February, when the flight of the male is diversi- 

 fied in a most curious manner. This mode of flight ceases as soon as the nest is 

 commenced, or perhaps somewhat before. 



The Ring Pigeon begins to build in March, and forms its nest of sticks and 

 twigs, usually selecting the oldest and most brittle for the purpose. The sticks in 

 the interior of the structure are somewhat smaller than those on the exterior. The 

 shape of the nest is that of a platform, placed in the fork of a branch ; and though 

 sometimes sufficiently substantial, at other times is so slightly constructed as to 

 allow a practised eye to detect the eggs through the interstices. The nest is ge- 

 nerally found near the tops of tall trees, particularly the fir, but I have observed 

 it in nearly all the other common trees and shrubs which grow in sequestered 

 woods. From its naturally shy habits, the Ring Pigeon is rarely known to build 

 near houses ; but in places where the feathered tribes are not disturbed, I have 

 met with instances of its breeding in the immediate neighbourhood of the abodes 

 of men. Mr. Waterton pointed out a nest in an elm tree, within a few yards of 

 Walton Hall, wherein both birds were sitting : so exceedingly tame will almost 

 any bird become when unmolested. Last year a pair of Ring Pigeons built their 

 nest in a laurel bush in the gardens at Foston Hall, Derbyshire, and hatched their 

 young, though, for some reason I cannot explain, they deserted their progeny 

 when about ten days old. This bird rears two or three broods in the season. 



The eggs are never more than two,* one being laid two or three days after 

 the other ; which causes a corresponding difference in their times of hatching. 

 The eggs are oval, but nearly elliptical, of a pure white, and remarkably smooth. 

 The first egg is hatched in sixteen days, the other in nineteen, and hence the rea- 

 son of one of the young birds being invariably so much larger than the other. 

 They are at first scantily provided with yellow down, but the feathers of the wings 

 soon begin to shoot forth. In about three weeks they are ready to fly ; and in 

 Derbyshire the peasants are accustomed, about this period, to tie them to the nest 

 by one leg, in order to allow the parents to feed them until they have become 



* The domestic Pigeon (which is descended from the Rock Pigeon, C. livia) also lays 

 only two eggs ; but almost every extensive breeder of Pigeons must be aware that they 

 will occasionally lay three. Instances of this have fallen under my own notice. 



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