EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 159 



or September. April and May are the principal breeding-months. 

 A few Rock Doves build their nests in the crevices of the cliffs ; 

 but the greater majority resort to the caves for breeding-purposes. 

 The eggs are only two in number, pure white in colour, oval and 

 rather elongated in form ; they vary from 1'5 to 1"38 inch in 

 length, and from 1*2 to 1*1 inch in breadth. As a rule, the eggs 

 of this bird are rather more rotund than those of the Ring Dove, 

 and they are always smaller than normal eggs of that bird. 



THE TURTLE DOVE. 

 {Tiirtur auritus.) 



Plate 47, Fig. 2. 



During the breeding season the Turtle Dove is generally distri- 

 buted throughout England and Wales, becoming rarer in Cornwall, 

 in the wilder Welsh counties, and north of South Yorkshire. In 

 Scotland it is only known as an accidental straggler on migration ; 

 but in Ireland it is said to breed sparingly. It is a summer visitor 

 to the western Palasarctic region. In Russia it has not been 

 known to occur north of lat. 60°. East of the Urals it is a summer 

 visitor to Turkestan (as far east as the Altai Mountains, Yarkand 

 and Gilgit), Afghanistan, Persia and Asia Minor. 



The nest is sometimes built in a tall, dense hedge, sometimes 

 in an evergreen bush, or in the branches of a pine-tree ; as a rule, 

 however, it is much nearer to the ground than that of the Ring 

 Dove, sometimes within easy reach of the hand. It is usually a 

 slight flat structure, made of slender twigs, but I have occasionally 

 found it to be more substantially made. 



The eggs are two in number, creamy-white in colour, like those 

 of the Stock Dove, and oval in form, both ends being almost 

 equally pointed ; they vary in length from 1"25 to 11 inch, and 

 in breadth from 0"94 to 0'86 inch. The small size of the eggs 

 of the Turtle Dove prevents them being confused with those of 

 any other British species of Pigeon. 



THE ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE. 



(Turtur orientalis.) 



An example of this Dove has been shot near Scarborough. The 

 specimen in question was exhibited by me at a meeting of the 



