382 TEE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



disturb their mossy dwellings, nor clunbing urchiii shows his visage grim amoug the 

 umbrageous boughs. This is beautifully exemplified (aud ou a larger scale than in a 

 cottage garden) among the gladsome palace-groves of the Tuilleries and Luxembourg in 

 Paris, where, notwithstanding the gay and giddy stream of life which constantly flows 

 through those royal walks, the wood pigeon frequently builds her nest, though distant 

 is her flight to rural solitudes for every ofl'ering which she brings her much-loved young. 

 The ring pigeon breeds tmce in the year, viz., in spring, and again in autumn, a 

 cessation taking place during the greater part of June and July, being a period of com- 

 parative scarcity, the seeds of such plants as they principally subsist on having then 

 ripened or attained perfection. The autumnal brood, on account of the more efiectual 

 concealment of the nests by the now matured and thick foliage of the woods, is always 

 more abundant than that of spring, and, in favourable districts, great numbers annually 

 escape. In certain seasons, the young produced in autumn are subject to a peculiar 

 disease, which destroys many of them even after they have quitted the nest. It appears 

 in the form of large swellings, or impostumes, upon the feet and head, which, rapidly 

 increasing, at length deprive them of sight and the power of perching, and they perish 

 upon the ground, emaciated by hunger and disease. This complaint, for many years 

 past, has been observed in the northern districts of the kingdom, but whether it prevails 

 to an equal extent in other parts, we have had no opportunity of ascertaining. The 

 flesh of both old and young is of good flavour, that of the latter being little inferior to 

 the moor game, or grouse, which it is thought by many to resemble in taste. This, how- 

 ever, can only be said of it, so long as the bird derives its support from the stubbles, or 

 the produce of the forest ; for as soon as a deficiency of other food compels it to resort to 

 the turnip field, the flesh becomes imbued so thoroughly with the strong flavour of the 

 plant, as no longer to be fit for the table. 



Though the ring pigeon frequently approaches our habitations during the breeding 

 season in search of a site for its nest, and almost seems to court the vicinity' of man, it 

 always evinces a timorous disposition, and is startled and alarmed by the slightest motion 

 or noise. In the winter, and when congregated, it becomes still more impatient of 

 approach, and is then one of the most wary and watchful of the feathered race. 



Various attempts have been made to domesticate the ring pigeon, but hitherto without 

 success, for, although these birds may be rendered very tame when in confinement, they 

 show no disposition to breed even by themselves, much less with the common pigeons, and 

 upon being set at liberty, soon lose any little attachment they may have shown to the 

 place in which they were reared, and betake themselves to their natural haunts to 

 return no more. 



Taking the species as a typical example of the restricted genus Colmnba, we find the 

 bill of moderate strength, the tip without cmargination, and gently arched, the nostril 

 protected by a soft inflated membrane ; the wings calculated for vigorous flight, the 

 second and third quills being the longest, and nearly equal ; the tail is square or even at 

 the end ; the tarsi short, and the feet adapted either for perching or walking ; the outer 

 and inner toes are of equal longtli, the hinder rather shorter than tlie tarsus, and not 

 provided with so broad and fiat a sole us that of the true arboreal pigeons. In size it is 

 superior to the majority of the Coluinbkhi', measuring from sixteen to seventeen inches in 

 length. The horny part of the bill is orange-yellow, the basal or soft part impending 

 the nostrils covered with a white mealy substance. The head, cheeks, throat, neck, 

 lower back, and rump, arc bluish-gray, those of tho side of the neck glossed with 

 green, and bounded with i\ patch of white, which nearly meets behind, and forms an 

 imperfect dcmi-coUar round the lower and back part of (ho neck. The manllo, scapulars, 

 and wing-coverts are deep bluish-gray. The breast and belly purplish-red, passing 

 towards the vent and under tail-coverts into i)alc bluish-gray. The outer ridge of the 



