22 COLUMBID^. 



nostrils. Tarsi rather shorter than the middle toe ; inner toe longer than the 

 outer. Tail, of twelve feathers, rather long and considerably rounded or 

 graduated. Wings rather long and pointed, the first quill a little shorter than 

 the second, which is the longest. 



The Turtle Dove is onl}' a summer-A-isitant to the British 

 Islands, arriving in the southern districts about the end of 

 April or beginning of May, according to the nature of the 

 season. Owing to the great increase of conditions suitable to 

 their habits, these birds are both more numerous and far 

 more widely distributed than in former years. They frequent 

 woods, fir plantations, and high thick hedges dividing arable 

 land, and in such situations they make a flat nest of a few 

 twigs, frequently so slight as to seem incapable of retaining 

 the eggs. Its elevation varies considerably : sometimes it is not 

 more than four feet from the ground ; the average distance is 

 about twelve ; and it has been found at least forty feet up, on 

 the top of a pine in a shrubbery. The eggs, deposited from 

 the iniddle of May onwards, are, as usual, two in number, of 

 a glossy creamy white, rather pointed at one end, and measure 

 about 1*2 by -9 in. The parent birds take turns in the task 

 of incubation, which lasts a fortnight, and, sometimes at 

 least, two broods are reared in the season, Mr. Cecil Smith 

 having shot a bird on the 1st September which could only 

 have just left the nest. They are partial to grain, pulse, 

 and seeds of various sorts, and, like other members of the 

 family, they drink regularly. Their flight is rapid and, 

 amongst trees, remarkably tortuous. The note is a low 

 plaintive coo, uttered more especially by the male, and the 

 pleasure exj^erienced by the lover of nature on hearing this 

 harbinger of returning summer is second only to that caused 

 by the earlier note of the Cuckoo. Being somewhat suscep- 

 tible to cold, the majority of the Turtle Doves take their 

 departure for southern climes in September ; but in sheltered 

 situations, and especially in southern counties, some remain 

 considerably later, and an example has even been obtained as 

 late as 18th November. The Report of the Committee of 

 the British Association on the Migration of Birds in 1880, 

 shews that fifteen struck the Casquets lighthouse between 



