. DOVE 165 



with the idea of a messenger (Genesis viii. 8-1 2), and its employ- 

 ment in that capacity^ developed successively by Greeks, Romans, 

 (^MussSnaan^ ^ind~lQhris tian sp has never been more fully made avail- 

 able than in our own day, as witness the " Pigeon-post " established 

 during the siege of Paris in 1870-71. 



Leaving, then, this interesting subject, space does not permit 

 our here dwelling on various foreign species, which, if not truly 

 belonging to the genus Colwnba, are barely separable therefrom. 

 Of these examples may be found in the Indian, Ethiopian, and 

 Neotropical Regions. Still less can we here enter upon the in- 

 numerable other forms, though they may be entitled to the name 

 of " Dove," which are to be found in almost every part of the 

 world, and nowhere more abundantly than in the Australian 

 Region. Mr. Wallace {Ibis, 1865, pp. 365-400) considers that they 

 attain their maximum development in the Papuan Subregion, 

 where, though the land-area is less than one-sixth that of Europe, 

 more than a quarter of all the species (some 300 in number) known 

 to exist are found — owing, he suggests, to the absence of forest- 

 haunting and fruit-eating Mammals. 



It would, however, be impossible to conclude this article with- 

 out noticing a small group of birds to which in some minds the 

 name Dove will seem especially applicable. This is the group 

 containing the Turtle-Doves — the time-honoured emblem of tender- 

 ness and conjugal love. The common Turtle-Dove of Europe, 

 Turtur communis or auritus, is one of those species which is gradu- 

 ally extending its area. In England, not much more than a 

 century ago, it seems to have been chiefly, if not solely, known in 

 the southern and western counties. Though in the character of a 

 straggler only, it now reaches the extreme north of Scotland, and 

 is perhaps nowhere more abundant than in many of the midland 

 and eastern counties of England. On the continent the same thing 

 has been observed, though indeed not so definitely ; and this species 

 has within the last forty years or so appeared as a casual visitor 

 within the Arctic Circle. The probable causes of its extension 

 cannot here be discussed ; and there is no need to dwell upon its 

 graceful form and the delicate harmony of its modest colouring, for 

 they are proverbial. The species is migratory, reaching Europe 

 late in April and retiring in September. Another species, and one 

 perhaps better known from being commonly kept in confinement, 

 is that called by many the Collared or Barbary Dove, T. risorius — 

 the second English name possibly indicating that it was by way of 

 that country that it was brought to us, for it is not an African 

 bird. This is distinguished by its cream-coloured plumage and 

 black necklace. Some uncertainty seems to exist about its original 

 home, but it is found from Constantinople to India, and is abundant 

 in the Holy Land, though there a third species, T. senegalensis, also 



