TURTLE-DOVE 29 



objections to this theory. It has been pointed out, for example, that 

 young pigeons are frequently unable to discover the whereabouts of 

 their own dovecot, despite the overpowering odour issuing therefrom. 

 A more probable suggestion is that these birds are endowed with some 

 sense of orientating their position quite unknown to ourselves. 



T irtlp Dovp ^^^ fourth and last representative of the pigeons 

 (Tuptur communis), indigenous to the British Isles is the turtle-dove, the 

 emblem of peace and affection ; a species styled in 

 many modern ornithological works Turtur turtiir. The members of 

 the comparatively large genus Turtur are distinguished from the typical 

 pigeons by their smaller size, slender and graceful shape, the prevailing 

 brown or " dove-coloured " tone of their plumage, which shows no 

 iridescent metallic reflections, and the presence of a patch of dark 

 feathers on the sides of the neck, or a more or less distinct black collar 

 round the neck. In the British Museum Hand-List of Birds the 

 genus is restricted to half-a-dozen representatives, but it is here used 

 in a wider sense, comprising some thirty species, ranging over Europe 

 and Asia. The true doves, as the members of this group may be 

 collectively termed, have the same type of flight as pigeons, but are 

 less gregarious, and feed on the ground, almost exclusively on grain 

 and other seeds, while they generally resort to open, cultivated country. 

 The nest, which is placed in a low tree or bush, consists of a thin 

 platform of twigs and grass so loosely constructed as to permit the 

 eggs to be seen from below. 



The turtle-dove, which is the type of the whole group, has the 

 general tone of the plumage of the upper-parts fawn-brown with a 

 purplish tinge, and a patch of white-tipped black feathers (representing 

 the collar of certain other species) on each side of the neck ; other 

 distinctive features being the rufous-coloured wing-coverts with black 

 middles, and the white tips to the tail-feathers. The plumage of the 

 male is somewhat brighter than that of his partner, but otherwise the 

 two are similarly coloured. In the first plumage of the young the 

 black neck-patches are absent ; and the black middles to the wing- 

 coverts (which are tipped with white) are likewise wanting. The legs, 

 moreover, are brown instead of red. Eleven inches is the total length. 



The turtle-dove is one of the host of birds which resort to the 

 British Islands for breeding-purposes, arriving there in May, or some- 

 times the end of April, and departing south in search of warmer climes 

 in September. The south-eastern and midland districts appear to 

 form its chief resorts in this country, as it is much less common in the 



