TURTLE-DOVE. 253 



apprehensive of unseen dangers. During these manoeuvres 

 the flapping of their many thousand wings causes a reverbera- 

 tion suggestive of thunder. When at last settled upon the 

 ground, they industriously search among the fallen leaves for 

 the acorns and the beech-mast, the rear flocks continually 

 rising, passing over the main body, and re-alighting. These 

 changes are so frequent that at times the whole collection 

 appears to be in motion. A large extent of ground is thus 

 cleared in a surprisingly short space of time, and cleared with 

 a completeness that is described as incredible. They are 

 usually satiated by the middle of the day, and ascend to the 

 trees to rest and digest their food. On these occasions the 

 Pigeons are destroyed in immense numbers, and their 

 abundance in large extents of the country has been very 

 sensibly reduced." 



Nest. — Composed of a few dry twigs laid crosswise and built 

 upon the branches of trees. (Brewer, t.c. p. 373.) 



Eggs. — -Two in number, pure white. Axis, 1-4-1 '6 inches; 

 diam., io-i"i6. 



THE GROUND-PIGEONS. FAMILY PERISTERID^:. 



In this family of Pigeons the bill is not hooked, and the 

 nostrils are parallel to the edges or tomia of the upper 

 mandible. The tarsus is equal to, or longer than, the middle 

 toe, and the number of tail-feathers varies from twelve to twenty. 



THE TURTLE-DOVES. SUB-FAMILY TURTURIN^. 



In this Sub-family there are no long hackles on the neck, 

 neither is there any black spot beneath the ear-coverts, as in 

 the Zenaidince. Count Salvadori gives the following supple- 

 mentary characters : — No metallic spots on the wings ; tail of 

 twelve feathers, rather broad ; tarsus naked on the upper 

 part ; neck with a dark collar, more or less distinct, or with 

 scale-like patches on the sides. 



The Turtle-Doves, which includes five sub-genera — Turfur, 

 Homopelia, Streptopelia, Spilopelia, and Stigmatopelia — are 

 entirely confined to the Old World, over the whole of which 

 they are distributed. 



