244 BIRDS. 



trout- and salmon-streams, and its protection has been the 

 subject of a deal of discontent. The nest is either under- 

 ground or else in the heather or long grass, and is lined, 

 as are those of almost all ducks, with a profusion of down. 

 Eggs, 8 to lo, 2^ inches; greenish drab. 



Hooded Merganser. — A rare straggler from North 

 American waters, which has occurred half-a-dozen times, 

 mostly in Ireland. 



CHAPTER IX. THE DOVES. 



Three residents ; one summer visitor. 



The Wood-Pigeon, Ring-Dove, or Cushat is the largest of 

 our doves, and is familiar, more especially to the farmer 

 "Wood- whose crops it raids, in most parts of these 

 Pigeon, islands. It is one of those birds that have 

 increased and extended their range in our islands, and is 

 common in agricultural districts where but half a century 

 ago it was not known. Being the most abundant of our 

 doves, it is not easily mistaken for any other ; besides, 

 it is sufficiently distinguished by the green patch on the 

 neck, below which are the white feathers which, after 

 the second year, form a kind of incomplete collar. The 

 straight flight of this bird, as also its great speed, is 

 appreciated by those who have waited in the woods at 

 sunset for an overhead shot as the birds fly home to roost. 

 They move like arrows, and are as easy to miss as most 

 birds. The note of this pigeon, the low vibrating " cooing," 

 cannot be mistaken for that of any other bird, or, for that 

 matter, any other dove. Like all the family, it is a great 

 drinker, and, in Australia at any rate, it is generally easy 

 to reckon on a bag of the indigenous pigeons, of which 

 that continent has such a variety, by repairing at sun- 

 down to the neighbourhood of some water-hole. Its food 



