TURTLE-DOVE. 25"5 



dull ashy below ; bill brown ; feet red ; iris reddish-brown ; 

 bare skin round the eye red. Total length, 1 1 inches ; 

 culmen, 07; wing, 6*8; tail, 3'9; tarsus, o'g. 



Adult Female, — Similar to the male, but with the plumage 

 rather duller. Total length, io'5 inches ; wing, 6'8. 



Youn^. — Browner than the adults, with broader and duller 

 rufous edges to the scapulars and wing-coverts ; quills edged 

 and tipped with rufous. There are no dark patches on the 

 sides of the neck, and the throat and breast are dull pale ashy, 

 with a wash of fulvous brown on the lower throat ; the flanks 

 grey, and the rest of the lower parts white. 



Range in Great Britain. — A summer visitor, arriving in May 

 or at the end of April. It breeds throughout England up to 

 Yorkshire, but is rare to the northward, though it is believed 

 to have bred in Durham, Northumberland, and Cumberland, 

 and even in the south of Scotland. It has occurred in 

 migration as far north as the Shetlands and the Faeroe Isles. 

 As regards its occurrence in Ireland, Mr. R. J. Ussher 

 writes : — " It is recorded as having once nested near Down- 

 patrick, and once at Derraquin, Kerry (Thompson). A female, 

 with eggs in its ovary, was once shot near Avoca in Wicklow 

 (Walters), and recently Mr. E. Williams has obtained, near 

 Dublin, some birds so young that they seemed to have been 

 reared in the county. As it is often observed in spring, it 

 probably breeds more frequently than is supposed." 



Range outside the British Islands. — The present species is a 

 summer resident throughout the Western Palaearctic Region, 

 and winters in Northern Africa as far south, at least, as Shoa. 

 In Central Asia it extends to Yarkand, Afghanistan, and 

 Baluchistan ; but Mr. Hartert considers the Eastern birds to 

 belong to a distinct pale race which he has called Tn7'tur. 



Habits. — Seebohm gives the following note : — The Turtle- 

 Dove is very careful to conceal its nest, and breeds only in 

 districts that afford it plenty of cover. It is very partial to 

 dense game-coverts and plantations, and loves the more open 

 districts, if the hedges are tall and thick. It also frequents 

 parks and pleasure-grounds, and is commonly met with in 

 close shrubberies. Soon after their arrival the woods and 



