COLUMBIDiE. 



403 



British birds, breeding in almost every copse of trees, 

 and inliabiting the larger forests in great numbers. At 

 the approach of the breeding season, and during its con- 

 tinuance, its soft complacent cooing, coo-goo -roo, coo-goo- 

 roo-o-o-o, is heard in every direction ; and with a very 

 slight search its nest may be found. It is a strange nest, 

 and hardly deserving that name, being nothing more than 

 a mere platform of sticks resting upon the fork of a bough, 

 and placed so loosely across each other, that when the 

 parent bird is away the light may sometimes be seen 

 through the interstices of the nest, and the outline of the 

 eggs made out. Generally the Ring-Dove chooses a rather 

 lofty branch for its resting-place, but it occii^ionally builds 

 at a very low elevation. 



