480 RING-DOVE. 



numbers receive additions in winter. In London every park, and 

 nearly everv square, is now frequented by this species. 



The Ring-Dove occasionally wanders to the Faeroes, and is found 

 in summer over the wooded districts of Europe up to lat. 65°-66° N. ; 

 but the northern birds migrate from the colder regions in winter, 

 and join those which are resident in the central and southern 

 districts as well as in Northern Africa. The nearer islands of the 

 Azores and Madeira seem to mark the western limit, while eastward 

 the range cannot be traced with certainty beyond long. 60*^ E., a 

 meridian which skirts the Ural Mountains and the Persian Gulf. 



Breeding begins in March or early in April, while a second clutch 

 of eggs is usually laid in June, and a third brood is often produced 

 in October. The nest, slightly built of twigs laid cross-wise, is 

 placed in almost any kind of tree; frequently in thick ivy on cliffs 

 and old walls, commonly in bushes or hedge-rows, and sometimes on 

 former habitations of other birds or squirrels. The eggs, usually 2, 

 but exceptionally 3 in number, are oval and pure glossy white : 

 measurements i*6 by i"2 in. They are laid at intervals of two or 

 three days, and incubation lasts about seventeen ; the male, as a 

 rule, sitting in the day-time. The young are blind and helpless 

 till about the ninth day, and remain in the nest until able to fly ; 

 being fed at first with a curd-like secretion from the crops of their 

 parents, and afterwards by regurgitated food. Grain of all sorts, 

 peas, young clover, the leaves and bulbs of turnips, beech-nuts and 

 berries, with seeds of a good many plants, form the chief articles 

 of diet. The Ring-Dove is strictly monogamous, and in summer 

 is generally seen in pairs, but in cold weather it becomes gregarious. 

 Exceptionally it has been known to breed in confinement, and 

 also to produce a hybrid with the domestic Pigeon. Its note is the 

 well-known coo rod, coo coo. 



The adult male has the head bluish-grey ; sides and back of the 

 neck glossed with violet and green, which is bounded on each side 

 by a patch of white ; mantle brownish-grey ; wing-coverts grey, 

 broadly edged with white, which forms a conspicuous bar ; lower 

 back slate-grey ; tail-feathers nearly black, except at their bases ; 

 breast rich vinous-purple, belly paler, flanks and vent ash-grey. 

 Length 17 in.; wing 10 in. The female is smaller and somewhat 

 duller in colour. The young before their first moult have no white 

 on the sides of the neck, and their tints are less pure, but the adult 

 plumage is assumed the first year. There is only one moult in 

 the year. Varieties more or less spotted with white, and even 

 perfect albinoes, are sometimes met with. Weight, from 17-26 ozs. 



