ROCK DOVE. ^75 



under my observation, that the same nest is used for different 

 broods ; and it is commonly believed, and not improbable, that 

 these birds pair for life. The young are. fed by their parents, 

 who applying their open mouth to that of the nestling, the 

 mandibles of which enter the pharynx, force up the food from 

 their crop so as to be within reach of the bill of the young, 

 which all the while flaps its wings, and utters a low cheeping 

 note, indicative of its eagerness to have its wants supplied. 



There can be no reasonable doubt that the Rock Dove is 

 the original of our domestic pigeons, in fact the true Stock 

 Dove, although that name has been given to another species. 

 Individuals of the domesticated race which cannot be dis- 

 tinguished from those of the wild, are of common occurrence ; 

 and, however highly varieties may be prized, the blue, white- 

 backed race is certainly the most beautiful. I have seen in 

 the Hebrides a few house pigeons which had deserted and lived 

 among the wild doves. In various places along the east coast 

 of Scotland, as at the Cove near Aberdeen, at Dunottar Castle 

 near Stonehaven, and the Bass Rock in the Frith of Forth, I 

 have observed wild pigeons among the rocks. Some of them 

 presented the pure unvarying tints of the Rock Dove, while 

 others were of different shades of blue or purple. These were 

 in all probability domestic pigeons that had run wild, and their 

 descendants. Two individuals, shot by Mr. De Jersey, in May 

 1824, on the Bass, were so precisely similar to the Rock Doves 

 of the Hebrides, that I believed them to be of the genuine 

 stock ; but the best places for studying the habits of the species, 

 or for procuring specimens, are the islands of Lewis, Harris, 

 Uist, Barray, Skye, the northern coasts of Scotland, the Shet- 

 land and Orkney Islands. I have also received specimens 

 from the Mull of Cantyre, which were presented to me by Dr. 

 Macdonald of Ballysher. 



The boys in ihe Outer Hebrides often attempt to rear young 

 doves, but their cares are seldom continued long enough. 

 They introduce the food, dry barley grain, by the side of the 

 mouth, which occasions inflammation and swelling of the basal 

 margins of the mandibles. When a boy, I had a young Rock 

 Dove, which I fed for some time in this manner, until the bill 



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