482 STOCK-DOVE. 



Dornoch Firths, while it is now found in Sutherland and West Ross ; 

 and it has been obtained from time to time in the Orkneys and 

 Shetlands. In Ireland, where it was first recognised in 1875 by the 

 late Lord Clermont, and was supposed to be confined to the north- 

 east, it is now known to nest also in co. Wicklow and some of the 

 central districts. As a rule, it leaves the northern portions of our 

 islands in October and returns in March. 



The Stock-Dove is found in Scandinavia, and in Russia up to 

 about lat. 60^-61° N. as far east as the Ural Mountains ; while in 

 many parts of Central Europe it is even more abundant than the 

 Ring-Dove. In the south, as well as in Northern Africa, it is 

 resident in limited numbers, though chiefly observed in winter as 

 a migrant from colder regions ; eastward it can be traced in Asia as 

 far as Eastern Turkestan and the edge of the Gobi desert. 



As already mentioned, rabbit-burrows, pollards, holes in trees, 

 cliffs &:c., are used as nesting-places, to which may be added cross- 

 beams in old churches, matted ivy, former abodes of other birds, 

 and squirrels' dreys. The eggs — usually 2 in number, though 3 

 have been found — are of a rather more creamy tint than those of the 

 Ring- or the Rock-Dove: measurements i'5 by I'l in. They are 

 often laid by the middle of March, though usually in April, and 

 have been found as late as October. In length of incubation and 

 general habits this species resembles the Ring-Dove, but its note is 

 shorter and less distinct, and has been described as "grunting"; while 

 for its food the Stock-Dove consumes a larger proportion of the 

 seeds of charlock and other weeds, as well as also beech-mast. Its 

 flight is lighter and more rapid than that of its heavier and larger 

 congener. A bird which appeared to be a hybrid between a Stock- 

 Dove and a tame Pigeon was shot in Nottinghamshire (Zool. 1885, 

 p. 150); and Mr. Tomalin has recorded the pairing of a male 

 Stock-Dove with a Ring-Dove. 



The Stock-Dove differs from the Ring-Dove in having no white 

 on the sides of the neck, and the nuchal patch of a greener tint ; 

 the vinous-purple on the breast hardly comes below the line of the 

 shoulders, while the lower parts are bluish-grey, as in the Rock-Dove; 

 there is no white on the wings, but some black spots on the inner 

 secondaries and wing-coverts form an imperfect bar ; the axillaries 

 and under wmg-coverts are grey. The whole length is only 13 '5 in. ; 

 wing 8-8 in. The female is slightly smaller than the male and her 

 colours are less brilliant. The young have no shining metallic 

 feathers on the neck before their first moult, and the dark spots on 

 the wing-feathers are scarcely visible. Weight, about 13 ozs. 



