176 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



if to stultify me, some red turtle doves took into 

 their heads to remain on in Lahore during the following 

 winter, and at the end of September, when they ought 

 to have been far away, a pair of them were hatching 

 out eggs. On the 27th of that month Mr. Currie found 

 a nest containing three fresh eggs. The laying of 

 three eggs was an additional piece of effrontery on 

 the part of the lady turtle dove, and she was rewarded 

 by having them captured by Mr. Currie. As every one 

 knows, two is the correct number of eggs for a re- 

 spectable pair of doves. I have found dozens of doves' 

 nests, but have never seen more than two eggs in 

 any of them. Two is the normal number for the red 

 turtle dove, but this species has a trick of occasionally 

 laying three, and so would seem to be departing from 

 the traditions of the family in the matter of egg- 

 laying. 



As regards architecture, it has not made any ad- 

 vances on the vulgar herd of doves. Its nursery 

 is the typical slight structure over which so many 

 ornithologists have waxed sarcastic — a few slender 

 sticks, or pieces of grass, or both, so loosely and 

 sparsely put together that the eggs can generally 

 be spied from below through the bottom of the 

 nest. Hume states that he has always found 

 the nest at or near the extremities of the lower 

 branches of very large trees, at heights of from 

 eight to fifteen feet from the ground. My experi- 

 ence agrees with Hume's in that the nests 

 are placed in tall trees, but all those that I have 

 observed have been situated high up in the tree 



