ROCK DOVE. 285 



The crops of all were completely filled, up to the throat ; 

 that of the first with a mixture of barley and oats of the same 

 species as mentioned above, namely, bear and the small oat, 

 with a considerable number of what appeared to be eggs of 

 Helices, being globular, dusky, a twelfth of an inch in diame- 

 ter, their envelope membranous, and their contents a whitish 

 fluid of the consistency of pus ; along with these substances 

 were fragments of pods of Raphanus Raphanistrum. The 

 crop of the second was crammed wdth oats, among which were 

 a few seeds apparently of polygona, and fragments of charlock 

 pods. That of the third contained oat-seeds exclusively. In 

 the gizzards were numerous fragments of quartz, generally 

 white, but some tinged with chlorite, and a few of felspar and 

 either gneiss or granite. They were for the most part highly 

 polished, and did not exceed two twelfths of an inch in dia- 

 meter. 



The number of oat seeds in the crop of the second amounted 

 to 1000 and odds, and the barley seeds in that of Mr. Barclay's 

 female were 510. Now, supposing there may be five thousand 

 wild pigeons in Shetland, or in Fetlar, which feed on grain for 

 six months every year, and fill their crops once a day, half of 

 them with barley, and half with oats, the number of seeds 

 picked up by them would be 229,500,000 grains of barley, and 

 450,000,000 grains of oats; — a quantity which would glad- 

 den many poor families in a season of scarcity. I am unable 

 to estimate the number of bushels, and must leave the task 

 to the curious. What is the number of pigeons, wild and 

 tame, in Britain ; and how much grain do they pick from 

 the fields and corn-yards ? It is probable that were the quantity 

 of seeds of the cereal plants, which all the granivorous birds in 

 the country devour annually, accurately known, it would prove 

 much higher than could be imagined ; yet by far the greater 

 part could be of no use to man, were all the birds destroyed, 

 it being irrecoverably dispersed over the fields. 



The Rock Dove, as Mr. Barclay observes, is a strong bird, 

 and takes a heavy shot. Its feathers, like those of the Ringed 

 Dove, are very ready to fall off when ruffled, after it has been 

 shot or wounded, probably owing to the shortness of their 



