RINGED DOVE, OR CUSHAT. 265 



Early in spring the flocks break up, and by the beginning of 

 March the individuals of which they were composed have 

 paired. Their courtship is conducted much in the same man- 

 ner as that of the Domestic Pigeon, the male strutting with ele- 

 vated head, protruded breast, and quick step, round the female, 

 or, if on a branch, performing various movements and often 

 turning round, as he utters his murmuring love-notes. At 

 times, he rises in the air, produces a smart noise by striking 

 the points of his wings against each other, descends, rises again, 

 and thus continues to gambol in the presence of his mate. 

 The cooing of this species may be imitated by pronouncing 

 the syllables coo^ roo^ coo^ coo^ the two last protracted. It is 

 softer, deeper, and more plaintive than that of the Kock 

 Dove. 



The nests are to be found in \voods and plantations, being 

 placed on a branch or in the fork of an oak, beech, fir, or other 

 suitable tree, more especially a fir or pine ; and in the latter 

 case often only a few feet from the ground. Sometimes a nest 

 may be seen in a holly or ha\\i:horn bush, or in a hedge, but in 

 general a thick w^ood is preferred. It is composed of twigs 

 loosely put together, in a circular form, flat above, and varying 

 in thickness from two to four inches. The eggs are always 

 two, of a regular oval or sometimes elliptical form, pure white, 

 glossy, an inch and seven- twelfths in lenglh, one and two- 

 twelfths in breadth, the narrowest being a twelfth less. It 

 w^ould appear that two or even three broods are reared in the 

 year. The first young are abroad by the beginning of May, 

 the second in the end of July ; but I am not assured that in 

 ordinary circumstances, that is, when it is not robbed of its 

 eggs or young, this bird breeds more than twice in the year. 

 I have however seen unfledged young so late as October, and I 

 have before me a pair with down tips to their feathers obtained 

 in the Edinburgh market on the 26th of that month. 



Young. — The young are at first rather scantily covered with 

 a yellowish down, and when fledged are of the same colours as 

 the adult, but duller and tinged with brown, the white spots 

 on the neck and the changing tints of that part being wanting. 



