232 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



then it flutters to a hole in the trunk, steadying 

 itself for a second on a piece of dislodged bark, 

 and abruptly vanishes. It is the true Stock-dove, 

 so often confused with other species, especially with 

 its near kinsman of the Rocks. Although it rested 

 for so brief a space of time upon the bough, w^e 

 had time to note the uniform hue of its grey-blue 

 plumage, and especially to mark the smaller size 

 and the absence of the white neck-ring, which sets 

 it apart from the Wood-pigeon. On the other 

 hand, we observe that it lacked the broad band of 

 white at the base of the tail, the unfailing badge of 

 the Rock-dove. 



Here, in the dust of the cavity, the Stock-dove 

 lays its two creamv-white eggs, making little or no 

 nest, but in more open districts it often selects sites 

 far less secure. Thus, in parts of Norfolk and 

 Suffolk, it may be seen to enter a deserted rabbit- 

 burrow, or the eggs may be found in one of the 

 narrow runs beneath dense furze-bushes. 



Whether the title Stock-dove was originally 

 applied to this bird, because of its habit of nesting 

 in the trunks or " stocks " of trees — its German 

 name, Hohltaube, or Hole-dove, is plainly so de- 

 rived — or whether the bestowers of the name con- 

 ceived the bird to be the " stock " from which all 

 varieties of domestic pigeons originated, is by no 

 means clear. The presumption is that the former is 

 the true explanation, for it is questionable if the 

 wonderful deviations from type seen in domestic 

 pigeons to-day were at all understood before 

 Darwin set forth the facts in his Variations of 

 Plants and Animals under Domestication. 



