159 



CHAPTER LIII. 



THE COMMON KING OB, LArOHING DOVE. 



THIS faDiiliar pet of my boyhood ought, perhaps, to have 

 been included among the British, and not among the 

 foreign birds I have kept, for like the Canary, though of 

 exotic origin, it has long since become naturalized in this 

 country. 



Unlike the Canary, however, it has, so far, scarcely de- 

 parted from its original; only one variety, the White, often 

 called the Japanese Dove, has been produced: and even this 

 is doubtful, for it frequently has red eyes, and is probably 

 nothing but an albino. 



It used to be kept much more frequently some years ago 

 than it is at present, new and more showily feathered species 

 having taken its place in the estimation of juvenile connoisseurs, 

 to whose consideration I can nevertheless most heartily re- 

 commend it as a very charming pet, capable of becoming so 

 tame as to sit on its young owner's shoulder, and eat bread 

 and seed from his hand. It is not well to let these birds 

 fly out of doors, for they have none of the homing instinct 

 of the Pigeon, and will sooner or later stray and be lost. 



The Laughing Dove is about twelve inches in length, and 

 is reddish grey above, and whitish grey on the under parts of 

 the body; the legs and feet are red, and a semicircle of 

 black marks the back of the neck and gives the bird one 

 of its names, the Ring or Collared Dove; its scientific desig- 

 nation is Columla risorius, its French name la Tourtourelle 

 a collier, and its German name die Lachtaule, or the Laughing 

 Dove. 



There is scarcely any difference in the appearance of the 



