126 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



since my personal knowledge of India is confined to 

 some half-a-dozen widely separated places. Moreover, 

 this theory does not explain the absence of the spotted 

 dove from Bombay. I should be very glad to know if 

 there are any other moist parts of India where the 

 spotted dove is not the most abundant of the cooing 

 family. 



The nest of the dove is a subject over which most 

 ornithologists have waxed sarcastic. A more ram- 

 shackle structure does not exist ; yet the absurd thing 

 is that doves are most particular about the materials 

 they use. 



The other day I watched, with much amusement, a 

 little brown dove at work nest building. It was con- 

 structing a shake-down in a small Lonicera bush. Now, 

 obviously, since the nest is just a few twigs and stalks 

 thrown together, any kind of short twig or stem will 

 serve for building material. This, however, was not the 

 view of the dove. If that creature had been construct- 

 ing the Forth Bridge it could not have been more 

 particular as regards the materials it picked up. It 

 strutted about the ground, taking into its bill all man- 

 ner of material only to reject it, until at last it picked 

 up a dead grass stalk and flew off with it in triumph ! 



Presumably doves take the same trouble in selecting 

 a site for their nest, nevertheless they sometimes event- 

 ually choose the most impossible spot. Thus Mr. A. 

 Anderson has recorded the existence of a nest of a 

 pair of little brown doves that " was placed close to 

 the fringe of the kunnaut of his tent on one of the 

 corner ropes, where it is double for some six inches 



