BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 127 



on the neck, and from the Rock - Dove by the absence 

 of the white rump and of the black-barred wings. The 

 female Stock - Dove is rather smaller in size and duller 

 in colour than the cock, and the immature bird is still 

 duller and lacks altogether the brilliant metallic lustre 

 of the neck-plumage of the adult. 



Old woodlands are the tjrpical haunts of the Stock- 

 Dove during the nesting season, holes in trees being 

 the commonest sites. Other sites are on buildings or 

 crags, or the eggs may be laid in old nests of other 

 birds. In the north of England and in Scotland the 

 Stock-Dove is best known as a nester in rabbit - burrows, 

 especially among the sandhills along the coasts. The eggs 

 are usually laid several feet down the burrow, but we 

 have found them at the very mouth more than once. 

 In this situation they have been figured in the accom- 

 panying plate for convenience, but it must not be 

 regarded as normal. The two eggs are of the usual 

 oval type, but of a rather creamy tint. In other 

 respects the nesting habits closely resemble those of the 

 Wood-Piffeon. 



THE ROCK-PIGEON 



(Columba livia). 



Plate 42. 



In the Rock-Pigeon, or Rock-Dove, we have the still 

 wild descendants of the original wild ancestors of our 

 domestic Pigeons. All the various breeds — Pouters, 

 Tumblers, Fan-Tails, Homers, and so on — are but arti- 

 ficially produced varieties of this single species. With 

 these, however, Turtle - Doves, and other species some- 

 times kept in captivity^ must not be confused. 



